Despite MD, Michele Mattox pushes on

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Despite MD, Michele Mattox pushes on

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2008/07/31/features/health/doc4891fdac

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When the pressures of life close in on Michele Mattox, she often uses

a prized escape method: a bench with a panoramic view of the

Mississippi River that she finds immensely calming.

Mattox, 56, of Bettendorf, admits she's used that bench regularly

over the years to cope with a busy life complicated by disease. For

her success, she has won the Ross Personal Achievement Award

from the Iowa chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, or MDA.

She was selected because of her ability to juggle personal health

challenges with a full-time job and three children.

Mattox is affected by two of the diseases under the umbrella of the

Muscular Dystrophy Association, or MDA. She was diagnosed with

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease in her late 20s and nine years ago with

mitochondrial myopathy, a neurological disorder.

" Michele is a great example of the contributions people with

disabilities consistently make to their communities, " said Gerald C.

Weinberg, national MDA president and chief executive officer.

`Mad Dog' fights abuse

Many police officials and social workers know Mattox, who was

dubbed " Mad Dog " during her athletic youth in Marshalltown, Iowa. The

nickname stuck when she became a tenacious advocate of children who

are abused by adults.

Mattox has spent the past 23 years with Child Protective Services in

the Iowa Department of Human Services' Davenport office. Before that,

she worked for 12 years with Head Start.

" My priority is the safety of children, " she said from her favorite

perch in Davenport's Park, settling in to talk in the

company of her service dog, a golden retriever named Riley.

" When I get really ripped off, this is my spot, " she said, gesturing

toward busy River Drive and barge traffic on the river. " I sit here

and just stare, and think. "

This year, for example, she felt just about healthy enough to play

golf, a favored sport she hasn't tried in three years. But she fell

at home a few weeks ago and broke a bone in her foot.

" I can't play golf, but I've gone to the driving range and hit the

ball like a madman, " she said.

Problems increase

The single mother graduated from a Catholic high school in

Marshalltown during 1970. She went to Ottumwa Heights Junior College

to study physical education because her passion was sports such as

golf, volleyball and basketball.

She came to Davenport to finish her physical education degree at the

former crest College. She was playing a lot of golf by then and

hoped at times for a professional career.

But her gait became increasingly erratic: She tripped and fell in

downtown Davenport and was almost hit by a car. Doctors in Iowa City

diagnosed the Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and doctors at the Mayo

Clinic in Minnesota agreed.

" I was a jock. I never sat still. They said that's probably why I

didn't have early-onset disease, because of my activity level, " she

explained.

She switched her physical education degree to social work and started

to drive vans for Head Start. She ignored the disease for as long as

possible. " I kept it to myself for years, " she said.

The second MD diagnosis came in 1999. Mitochondrial myopathy causes

internal problems with choking and swallowing.

`Mad Dog' provides protection

A professional niche was found at the Department of Human Services

when " Mad Dog " went to bat for children. She never minded the odd

hours, the telephone calls, the court cases or the police work.

She has story after story about rescuing children from horrific abuse

inflicted by adults. She hears from them years later when they tell

her she was the adult who made the abuse stop and provided them with

safe havens.

Lately, however, she has changed her active job to one that mainly

involves desk work.

`I have learned to live with this'

She has learned what she can eat and what she cannot. She wears two

leg braces and moves carefully around her single-level home.

Riley, the service dog, helps her with balance and walking in

crowds. " Without him, I'd be on my fanny, " she said.

She keeps a personal journal and is an active volunteer for the MDA,

as are all three of her children: Colleen, 22, an Iowa State graduate

now attending Drake University and doing social work in Des Moines;

Clare, 15, a sophomore at Pleasant Valley High School; and Colin, 13,

who is in the eighth grade at Pleasant Valley Junior High School.

" Mad Dog " and the kids participate in MDA events such as the Lock-

ups, and Stride and Rides. She's appeared on the local broadcast of

the MDA Jerry Labor Day Telethon and helps with the MDA support

group.

The MDA will name a national Ross Personal Achievement Award

winner during the telethon, which takes place Aug. 31-Sept. 1.

Mattox does not believe she will win it. But it's a sure bet for whom

many County people would vote.