Re: This article was on my morning paper...A Healing Endeavor

[Guest guest]

Thank you, !

Love to all at cfparents,

n Rojas

This article was on my morning paper... " A Healing

Endeavor "

> I read this in my morning paper and it is something that we might be

> able to use sometime.

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> A healing endeavor

> Former Memphian recovers from heartbreak, uses its lessons to help

> sick children

>

> By Biggs

> Contact

> November 10, 2003

>

> In six years, Fitzgerald lost both her children to a rare

> neurological disorder.

>

> Her parents died during the same time.

>

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> Advertisement

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> Her marriage, unable to withstand the strain of the death of two

> children, failed.

>

> Yet after a period of healing, Fitzgerald emerged in 1999 as an

> advocate for ill children and their families when she founded Brave

> Kids, an organization that serves as a clearinghouse of information

> for social workers and families of sick kids.

>

> Now she's brought it to Memphis, although her connection to the city

> goes back many years.

>

> " Coming here is very sentimental for me, " she said. " I have dear

> friends here, people who were in my wedding. I even named my 10-month-

> old puppy Shelby. "

>

> Her story is a heartbreaking one.

>

> Fitzgerald came to Memphis in 1977 and met her husband, former

> Memphis Rogues soccer player Roman Rosul.

>

> The couple moved to ville, Fla., married, and a year later she

> was pregnant with their first child.

>

> " It was a very uneventful pregnancy and we had a healthy little boy

> we named after his father, " she said. " We used to call him Little

> Roman. "

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> But the baby didn't pass his three-month checkup and was referred to

> a pediatric neurologist.

>

> " We checked into the hospital and in essence, we never came out, "

> Fitzgerald said. " He lived to be nine months old. "

>

> The disease that killed her son - and later her daughter - was never

> identified or recognized as genetic, and doctors encouraged the

> couple to have another child.

>

> " About a year later, we pulled our lives together and tried again, "

> she said. " At three months, she had her first seizure. I'll never

> forget the expression on our doctor's face when we walked into the

> emergency room. "

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> Her daughter died when she was 4 years old, on Fitzgerald's birthday.

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> Her parents were gone and her marriage ended.

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> " I lost pretty much my whole family, " Fitzgerald said.

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> She had a brother who lived in San Francisco, so she moved there,

> trapped in a downward spiral that lasted several years.

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> But in time, she came to see that she could help others.

>

> " I saw what other children in the hospital were going through, the

> fear and the isolation they felt, " she said. " And of course, I knew

> first-hand what the parents go through. "

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> In the hospital, there are doctors and nurses around to take care of

> the sick child and to help the parents, but not at home.

>

> " There was no help for me when I left the hospital, " Fitzgerald said.

>

> She had to learn nursing skills, and support groups were hard to

> find.

>

> She started talking to social workers and healthcare professionals

> around the country, asking what they needed. When she discovered how

> much time they had to spend researching to find services for their

> patients, she went to technology experts and told them what she

> needed.

>

> At www.bravekids.org, parents of sick children have access to

> numerous resources with the click of a mouse.

>

> They can find local medical facilities, child care services, support

> groups and resources for legal assistance, financial assistance,

> transportation and lodging, among other services. The information is

> in English and Spanish.

>

> The database can be searched by category or by condition. To find

> resources for a child with a specific disease, the user selects the

> name of the disease in the condition section, and then the desired

> information, such as camps, hospitals, grief services and so on.

>

> National resources are displayed for anyone, anywhere, who uses the

> program. Local resources are available for San Francisco, Los

> Angeles, Seattle, Baltimore, Washington and now, Memphis.

>

> Fitzgerald was able to establish a Memphis database with a $50,000

> grant from the Variety Children's Charities.

>

> " I had the opportunity to meet about five years ago at one of

> our fashion shows, " Variety president Chadwick said.

>

> He offered his advice and support to Fitzgerald, and put her in touch

> with other Variety groups around the country. Before long, talk

> turned to including Memphis in the target areas.

>

> " We started working on this about 2 years ago, " he said.

>

> Researchers started gathering information for the Memphis area, which

> includes Shelby, Fayette and Tipton counties in Tennessee, De Soto

> County in Mississippi and Crittenden County in Arkansas.

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> A year later, the site is up.

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> Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center is taking advantage of it.

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> The hospital treats 10,000 children a year and sees another 132,000

> in the emergency room or as outpatients, psychosocial services

> director Jubirt said.

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> Brave Kids is providing the department with an up-to-date computer

> and has shown the employees how to use the program.

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> " We're going to have a Variety/Brave Kids room eventually, " Jubirt

> said. " Parents will be able to go in and use the computer. "

>

> Public libraries have computers for use free of charge.

>

> Children ages 8-17 who can provide medical documentation that they

> have an illness can apply for an MSN TV connection and a year of free

> service from Brave Kids, which will allow them to surf the Web using

> their television as a monitor. Besides having resources for parents,

> the site also has Club Brave Kids where children can chat with other

> kids, play games, and search for information.

>

> Fitzgerald has received national recognition for Brave Kids. A group

> of football players, including Rich Gannon of the Oakland Raiders and

> Brad of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are spokesmen, and the

> Dalai Lama honored her as a local humanitarian in the San Francisco

> Bay Area in 2001.

>

> But that's not why she does it.

>

> " I just want to equip parents with the tools they need for their

> children, " she said. " Children have problems accepting that they're

> different. When they can go to a camp or a support group with kids

> who have the same condition, it makes them feel better. "

>

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> If you'd like to apply for an MSN TV connection, donate money, or

> receive additional information about Brave Kids and don't have an

> Internet connection, call .

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> The opinions and information exchanged on this list should IN NO WAY

> be construed as medical advice.

>

> PLEASE CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN BEFORE CHANGING ANY MEDICATIONS OR

TREATMENTS.

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