In Gratitude

As I listen to my 24 year old medically fragile, special needs daughter giggling in the next room, then laughing outright as I change her, I give so much thanks to the world.

There is so many people to be grateful for in this journey with Sophie.  Not forgetting all the professionals, friends and family who have helped along the way, there is one person who has made a significant impact on Sophie, so that I can hear that sweet, sweet sound of her happiness.  This woman is a mom who just wanted to help her sons.  Finding a meal replacement powder that helped her son with weight and apraxia, her other son with ADHD, she made it her mission to tell others about it. She convinced me to try it with Sophie.  When the manufacturer stopped producing it, she worked with doctors to bravely create her own based on the old product, but improved on it.  She then convinced me to try her product, IQed, for my daughter.  After many years of trying various things to help Sophie’s gut and failing, sometimes spectacularly, I was skeptical but hopeful.  While Sophie will never be able to survive on her product, it has been a game-changer for this young woman with a complicated GI system. I am forever grateful for the serendipity road that led me to Lisa Geng and IQed.  While she is still trying desperately to get her product into medical trials, I can say what she cannot. This product helps Sophie to digest some, absorb some, sleep better and most importantly feel better and be happier.

This was not the case years ago. We spent years in and out of the hospital, trying various things to help Sophie and her gut.  For a kid who “doesn’t feel pain,” she would feel excruciating pain in her gut.  Quite a juxtaposition, and really hard for professionals and doctors to wrap their heads around the “she doesn’t feel pain but she does feel pain” issue. And even harder for those who love her to watch her suffering. Many medical interventions later and she still suffered, though had moments of fun between the bouts of gut pain and sleeplessness.

Sophie in a sad moment. Picture credit to Nicole Meo, This was part of a high school photography assignment. Nicole volunteered in Sophie’s Son-Rise program, then became a life-long friend.

 

While I don’t mean to turn this into an advertisement for Lisa’s IQed, it is a testament for the persistence and love of one Mother and how she can profoundly impact the lives of others.  While this journey has been full of hard times, I am so grateful for those heroes who have helped me along the way.   Lisa is one of those heroes.

Jody and Lisa at Sophie’s Make a Wish trip to Disney World in 2014.

To hear Sophie’s giggle is priceless- just ask those who care for her or play with her.  Once you hear it, you want to hear it again and again.  Luckily, I get to hear it all the time now.  It’s a rare day, rare hour now that I don’t hear her laughter.  It took a lot to get here.  Keep searching, keep asking, keep networking to find the way to fill your life with happiness. And Lisa, thank you for your persistence, your drive and your friendship.  It was A One In A Million chance worth taking.

(This was written without Lisa’s knowledge.  She did not ask me to endorse her product)

Sophie rockin’ her new sunglasses. March 2018