Cure NF for Kaitlyn: 2021

Monday, November 8, 2021

St. Patrick's Church Special Friends Bowling night

St. Patrick's Church goes over and above with fabulous events for Special Friends!

Memphis Cheer Shooting Stars competition

it's always such a joy to watch those big smiles and positive energy on stage! We are Memphis Cheer!

Halloween 2021

Special Friends Trunk or Treat with St. Patrick's Church. So blessed to be able to make these memories.

Handing out candy Halloween night with life long friends!

City if Germantown Special Community Trunk or Treat night!

Monday, September 27, 2021

St. Patrick's Church Field of Friends baseball is back!

So happy to be back in the swing of normal life again. The smiles are priceless!

Fallen Aviator Car Show in Jackson, TN

We love our Volkswagen Family! The MidSouth VW Club is full of such fabulous people!

This was a great venue full of history. One of the best things about car shows is that they are always for wonderful causes.

St. Ann's Special Athletes Day

Although very wet this year,, it's always a fun event! Thank you St. Ann's and everyone involved with this event.

The athletes treasure their metals and ribbons!

The soccer category is always the favorite!

Kirsten came in town to join us this year!

Millington, TN. Goat Days Car Show

Imagine Kaitlyn's excitement when they announced Katy's Bug won the award "In memory of Tommy and Pat Warren". The family chose Kaitlyn and Katy's Bug! What a fabulous surprise! Thank you Warren family!

Sparkle Cheer Season!

Our world is finally starting to feel normal again. I love seeing the smiles and spirit back! Go Mustangs!

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Eureka Springs VW Show 2021

WOW! What a fabulous adventure! Once again we had a great time showing off Katy's Bug with the MidSouth VW Club in Eureka Springs, AR. Great festivities, friends and fun!

This is why we enjoy the MidSouth VW Club so much...we had a 10 car caravan on the way home. 7 pulling trailers and 3 individual vehicles. We can sure fill a gas station. Lol. One towards the back of the line had a blow out on his trailer. Everyone pulls over(even if they had to turn around). This was an empty parking lot when we all formed a pit crew to switch out the tire. THE LOVE OF THE BUG CLUB! Or as Kaitlyn puts it.... NO BUG LEFT BEHIND! Almost home and another one overheats. Members of the crew quickly got him back on the road. I just can't say enough about this amazing club.... friends!

Kaitlyn is so proud of her BUG!

Katy's Bug showing off at the Swing Bridge during our club picnic.

Friday, July 23, 2021

The incredible ACUPUNCTURE experience!

Kaitlyn has been fighting the pain caused by neurofibromatosis for several years now. She goes to a pain clinic, uses essential oils, CBD oils and creams, BioDensity sessions, splints and braces, ice and heat....nothing helps the pain completely subside. Which really limits what she is able to do physically and mentally. Until now...she has discovered acupuncture! I hoped and prayed that it would help ease her pain. The transformation of her attitude, daily outlook, energy and overall pain is simply remarkable! She just glows after each session! We can't thank Wennie enough for her patience and gift of healing. She has truly blessed our lives!

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Skills For Life Memphis Riverboat Dinner Cruise

Thank you Skills for Life for putting together then fun outing. Such a unique adventure! Kaitlyn and friends made treasured memories.

Bluff City Balloon Jamboree Special Needs family night

The Rotery Club put together an incredible evening for Special Needs families! Everyone had a fabulous time making wonderful memories.

Blue Suede Shoes Car Show in Jackson, Tennessee

Kaitlyn and Katy's Bug won their first trophy! They won 2nd place in the Import Category.

Thursday, May 27, 2021

High School Graduation

Kaitlyn got her occupational diploma! We are so proud of her! She will go back to the high school for a couple more years to continue working on skills to get her dream job as a teacher's assistant for the SPED department of the local middle school.

Macky & Friends at Hope Church Movie Night

We love being part of Macky &Friends! They offer such wonderful creative events for Kaitlyn and her friends. We are so blessed!

Toy Story drive in movie.

MidSouth VW Club

We are so blessed and grateful for the MidSouth VW Club. They have gone over and above to include Kaitlyn and Katy's Bug in events, meetings and cruises.

Bug-a-Palüza in Chattanooga, TN

Monthly meetings and cruising.

Collierville Cruise Night

Halls Airbase in Halls, TN

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

2021 Joy Prom drive through Prom

901Joy Prom went over and above thinking outside the box to make Kaitlyn and her friends feel extra special since covid canceled Prom for 2nd year.

Why this blog was created...

This blog was created so that Kaitlyn's family and friends can keep up with her doctors and other events in her life. It was also created for those parents that have questions and are still at the frightening stage of learning about NF. When you first hear about your child having NF, it is so scary....all of the questions and concerns that go through a parents head is overwelming. I'm hoping this blog helps people understand more about NF. I write it in simple terms because it makes it easier to understand and explain. All of those formal terms and high tech words start to sound like another language. So I have simpified it so that kids and parents can relate to what is going on. My number one mission is to spread the awareness of neurofibromatosis to those families that have it and don't know it. I can't imagine learning about this when "it's too late".

Medical history

Kaitlyn was diagnosed with NF1 at six months of age. She was a full-term pregnancy with little complications. At birth she was put into ICU for a few hours due to breathing difficulty. Immediately during her first days, Kaitlyn was very fussy. It became clear she was having bowel problems. She was taken to doctors and treated for stomach issues. She was then sent to a genetics specialist because of a café au lait spot on her stomach. More and more “Katy-bug” spots started to appear as she got older, along with freckling under arms, hair on her lower back, posture issues etc. It was quickly suspected that she had NF. A DNA blood test confirmed that she indeed had “deleted chromosome 17” neurofibromatosis type 1. We were told her life expectancy was 9 years and she wouldn’t be able to learn past the ranking of a few years old. A bone scan was done which revealed a lesion on the left side of her scull between her eye and ear. She then started getting MRIs done regularly. Each MRI showed more lesions. As of 2020, she has 5 lesions inside of brain, one outside her skull, one between skull and scalp, one in her hip, one on her lung, around her ribs and in her arms…that we know of. During the last couple of years, hundreds of neurofibromas have developed on the outside of her body causing difficulty and pain in joint areas. The lesions in her brain push on nerves and have caused uncontrolled emotions, difficulty understanding, memory problems, night terrors, seizures etc. Luckily, she appears to have outgrown her epilepsy. Her last seizure was May 2012. In April of 2015 she had a 6x9cm tumor removed from the back of her head between the scalp and the skull. It has since grown back but not as big as the original. The tumors in her arms cause pain while using hands. She also has an uncountable number of neurofibromas through the trunk of her body. These tumors cause debilitating pain. She is now a patient of an adult pain clinic in addition to ENT, eye specialist, neurosurgeon, neuropsychologist, and genetics specialist at University of Tennessee plus pediatrician and orthopedics doctors. She has recently discovered acupuncture is a big help to relieve some her daily pain.

Therapies and education

Kaitlyn started therapies before she was one year of age. During age 2 to 3 years of age she attended a local special needs school, that specialized in learning disabilities in children up to age 3. Through grade school to high school, she received special, physical therapy, occupational therapy and resource classes. Now in high school, she is in all special education classes focusing on job skills, self-care tasks, cooking and home chores. Her IEP team work together to give her the best education possible to prepare her for the world. She can learn but it needs to be done by repetition and extra time. She is approximately at the 4th grade level compared to typical peers. Part of the special needs diploma she is working towards allows her to intern at local businesses to learn hands on job skills. She is being trained to be a teacher’s assistant in the local middle school. Her dream job is helping others like her in the school setting. She earned an occupational diploma in spring 2021. She continues to attend high school to focus on her job skills in hopes of having a job when she ages out of school. Kaitlyn knows God made her different and does her best to enjoy every day to the fullest. She is very active in the special needs community…2 different cheer teams, dance team, baseball, self-defense class, multiple proms and many other special needs events provided by our hometown and local churches. She has out learned and out lived way pass the doctor’s expectations. We know every day with Kaitlyn is a blessing!