By Kathy Chlan
48 BC Health, Beauty & Fitness
alking down the aisle 26
years ago to my Prince
Charming, I would never
have guessed that my fairy tale would
have a consistent amount of roadblocks.
I’m sure I was dreaming of that house
with the white picket fence, that great
career that would take me to new heights
and the fabulous, perfect children that
would make our family complete.
Well, let me just say that God definitely
laughed in my face. My journey
has been the ride of my life, but, I can
tell you honestly today, I would not
change a single thing.
My oldest, Casey is developmentally
and learning disabled. He is 25 years old
and went through the special education
system all through his school years and
graduated high school at the age of 21.
From the first few days after his birth, I
sensed that something was not right. The
maternal instinct kicked in full force.
Casey was diagnosed with so many
medical and feeding issues that it was
overwhelming. The first few years we
took him to 15 doctors. You know it is
bad when you begin to call the doctors
by their first names. He lost all his hair,
which is called alopecia, when he was 2
years old and it has never grown back.
There was an insurmountable number of
hospital stays for weeks on end. I would
live at the hospital for 2 weeks at a time
and then go home for a couple of weeks.
The cycle went on like that for a while.
In total, there were about 16 hospital
stays.
But, I made a monumental decision
during that time. This was the hand what
I was dealt, and I was not going to let it