
Hosted by Raising Rare · EN

This season, you probably have heard Everleigh’s voice a little more often. It was this story that gave us the idea. In this short episode, we hear about one of the unexpected struggles that Brittany had to deal with earlier this year. Usually, Evie is the one in the hospital but this time, Brittany’s son Maverick was the patient. The remarkable thing is that this challenge turned into a wonderful opportunity for Evie to play the role of big sister at one of her favorite places – Ronald McDonald House. It really provides a glimpse into the joy of a child, no matter what the circumstances. We hope you enjoy it.

“I am afraid there is something wrong with her brain”A mother’s intuition is often the first telltale sign of a rare disease. With the deep bonds that are built during pregnancy, there seems to be a connection between mom and kiddo beyond our understanding. But could this be true for an adopted child?Jessica Fein is proof that it can.Her adopted daughter Dalia was born in Guatemala. It was the second time she and her husband had adopted a child from the Central American country. As Dalia fell behind in developmental milestones, Jessica became very concerned. She kept pushing for answers. Eventually Dalia was diagnosed with MERRF (myoclonic epilepsy and ragged red fibers) syndrome.Jessica’s book “Breath Taking: A Memoir of Family, Dreams, and Broken Genes” is about Dalia’s life, the love between mother and child, and the power of leaning into any circumstances through that love. That is what Dalia taught her. Our conversation provides a glimpse into the writing of the book; the process, the pain, and the joy. This conversation really touched Brittany, and she said something beautiful, “We live our lives out loud through Everleigh every day.”

Raising a child with a rare and complex disease is a full-time job… or more. Constant advocacy. Almost every interaction regarding the child requires additional effort to bring people or the system up to speed. And this gets piled on top of the normal activity and chaos of life…work, school, the other kid, loss of a family member.There is help available, but that is just one more task to manage. Applying, interviewing visiting nurses or personal care aids, scheduling, handling unexpected absences, and managing performance. While the extra help is welcomed, it comes at a cost. On top of this, add frequent admissions to the hospital. Each hospitalization completely disrupts the family, interferes with work, and creates new challenges. Time management. Fatigue. Relationship tensions. This burden gets multiplied when dealing with multiple medical systems. These systems do not communicate well with each other. Big Academic Medical Centers may have more capabilities, but often they are too far away to be feasible for emergency care.Brittany opens up and talks about these challenges and how she and her family manage them. More importantly, she talks about the personal toll this all takes.