Alderfer Family Plans Make-A-Wish Trip to Disney
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Asked why, Katherine said, “Because she is pretty.”
Katherine’s twin sister Caroline likes Belle from “Beauty & The Beast.”
“Because she is pretty, the same reason,” Caroline said.
The 5-1/2-year-old girls will get to meet the Disney® characters and more when they leave Friday with their parents, Alan and Kristine, for a Disney® cruise, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation®.
Katherine was diagnosed with Juvenile Dermatomyositis in May 2010.
“It’s incurable,” said Kristine during an interview at their home Tuesday afternoon. “It affects two out of a million children in the world.”
The family has traveled to Riley Hospital for Children every week for the last 19 months. Katherine has been an in-patient eight times. She had a portacather put in her to make her infusions easier, which she has to get weekly. She has to sit in a chair for eight hours for the infusions.
During the past 19 months, Katherine also has received chemotherapy and other medications. She has had to use a walker and a wheelchair. She does physical therapy at Kosciusko Community Hospital, but for the rest of her care she has to go to Riley for specialists.
“There are very few specialists for this in the world,” Kristine said. “She is the opposite of a textbook case.”
Her disease, according to Kristine, is an autoimmune disease, which means her body attacks itself. Katherine doesn’t have much stamina and can’t walk long distances. She has cataracts in her eyes, and has osteopenia so her bones are brittle.
Long term, Kristine said, the disease can go into remission, but it takes a few years for it to happen.
“The problem is every kids reacts to the medicine differently,” Kristine said. “It can be months before they figure out what works. There’s no protocol for her, so they are figuring it out along the way. They’re basically experimenting on her.”
Kristine said the disease has been really difficult on Katherine.
A year ago, she said, they were approached for a Make-A-Wish® trip.
“The Make-A-Wish® people talked to her doctor,” Kristine said. “Though her condition is not life threatening, it can be, and it’s serious enough they decided to grant her wish. They’ve been really good to us.”
Usually, Kristine said, Make-A-Wish® doesn’t grant Disney® cruises. However, Katherine can’t be in the sun too long and Katherine wanted to do something involving Disney®. A cruise sounded good.
“When she was approached for this, she was really, really sick, so we asked if we could wait so she could enjoy it better,” Kristine said.
Every time Katherine went in for infusions, Caroline was there.
“She’s been a real trooper,” Kristine said of Caroline. “(The trip is) for the sick kid, but it’s a really positive thing for the whole family.”
“They arrange for a limousine to pick us up and take us to the Indianapolis airport, which is just awesome. We fly to Orlando and then get on the ship. I don’t know what’s all involved, they did all the arrangements,” Kristine said.
Wishes such as Katherine’s could not come true without all the donations and volunteers for Make-A-Wish®, Kristine said. They are what make it happen. The local Make-A-Wish® volunteers, Nanette Pierce and Leon Brenneman, have been a “real blessing” to the Alderfer family, Kristine said.
Playing in their Disney® princess dresses, Katherine said she was looking forward to meeting the characters and the Kids Club. She also was anticipating the food, feeding the sting rays, the glass-bottom boat and “swimming, that’s my favorite thing.”
She also expected she and Caroline would play together in the Kids Club, watch Disney® movies and see the shows with the princesses and pirates.
“And we get to see fireworks on the ship!” Katherine boasted.
“She’s waited a long time for this, and we’re excited,” Kristine said.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation®, a 501(c)(3) organization, grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions, according to a press release from the Indiana Region of the Foundation. It was founded in 1980 in Phoenix, Ariz. Since then, it has grown into the largest and most professional wish-granting organization in the world with 62 chapters in the United States. The 11th chapter formed in 1983, and has six offices in Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville and Indianapolis.
Any child over 2-1/2 years old and under 18, diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition and who has not received a wish from another wish-granting organization qualifies for the Make-A-Wish Foundation®. It is the child’s primary doctor who determines whether or not a child has a life-threatening medical condition. Once referred and qualified, the wish staff and a team of two volunteers visit the child to determine the child’s wish. The Foundation® then works with local businesses, volunteers and “generous hearts” to help fulfill the wish of the child.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, Indiana Region, is at 7330 Woodland Drive, Suite 201, Indianapolis, IN 46278. Its office phone number is 317-636-6060, and fax is 317-636-2445.
Visit the website at www.makeawishindiana.org[[In-content Ad]]
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Asked why, Katherine said, “Because she is pretty.”
Katherine’s twin sister Caroline likes Belle from “Beauty & The Beast.”
“Because she is pretty, the same reason,” Caroline said.
The 5-1/2-year-old girls will get to meet the Disney® characters and more when they leave Friday with their parents, Alan and Kristine, for a Disney® cruise, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation®.
Katherine was diagnosed with Juvenile Dermatomyositis in May 2010.
“It’s incurable,” said Kristine during an interview at their home Tuesday afternoon. “It affects two out of a million children in the world.”
The family has traveled to Riley Hospital for Children every week for the last 19 months. Katherine has been an in-patient eight times. She had a portacather put in her to make her infusions easier, which she has to get weekly. She has to sit in a chair for eight hours for the infusions.
During the past 19 months, Katherine also has received chemotherapy and other medications. She has had to use a walker and a wheelchair. She does physical therapy at Kosciusko Community Hospital, but for the rest of her care she has to go to Riley for specialists.
“There are very few specialists for this in the world,” Kristine said. “She is the opposite of a textbook case.”
Her disease, according to Kristine, is an autoimmune disease, which means her body attacks itself. Katherine doesn’t have much stamina and can’t walk long distances. She has cataracts in her eyes, and has osteopenia so her bones are brittle.
Long term, Kristine said, the disease can go into remission, but it takes a few years for it to happen.
“The problem is every kids reacts to the medicine differently,” Kristine said. “It can be months before they figure out what works. There’s no protocol for her, so they are figuring it out along the way. They’re basically experimenting on her.”
Kristine said the disease has been really difficult on Katherine.
A year ago, she said, they were approached for a Make-A-Wish® trip.
“The Make-A-Wish® people talked to her doctor,” Kristine said. “Though her condition is not life threatening, it can be, and it’s serious enough they decided to grant her wish. They’ve been really good to us.”
Usually, Kristine said, Make-A-Wish® doesn’t grant Disney® cruises. However, Katherine can’t be in the sun too long and Katherine wanted to do something involving Disney®. A cruise sounded good.
“When she was approached for this, she was really, really sick, so we asked if we could wait so she could enjoy it better,” Kristine said.
Every time Katherine went in for infusions, Caroline was there.
“She’s been a real trooper,” Kristine said of Caroline. “(The trip is) for the sick kid, but it’s a really positive thing for the whole family.”
“They arrange for a limousine to pick us up and take us to the Indianapolis airport, which is just awesome. We fly to Orlando and then get on the ship. I don’t know what’s all involved, they did all the arrangements,” Kristine said.
Wishes such as Katherine’s could not come true without all the donations and volunteers for Make-A-Wish®, Kristine said. They are what make it happen. The local Make-A-Wish® volunteers, Nanette Pierce and Leon Brenneman, have been a “real blessing” to the Alderfer family, Kristine said.
Playing in their Disney® princess dresses, Katherine said she was looking forward to meeting the characters and the Kids Club. She also was anticipating the food, feeding the sting rays, the glass-bottom boat and “swimming, that’s my favorite thing.”
She also expected she and Caroline would play together in the Kids Club, watch Disney® movies and see the shows with the princesses and pirates.
“And we get to see fireworks on the ship!” Katherine boasted.
“She’s waited a long time for this, and we’re excited,” Kristine said.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation®, a 501(c)(3) organization, grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions, according to a press release from the Indiana Region of the Foundation. It was founded in 1980 in Phoenix, Ariz. Since then, it has grown into the largest and most professional wish-granting organization in the world with 62 chapters in the United States. The 11th chapter formed in 1983, and has six offices in Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville and Indianapolis.
Any child over 2-1/2 years old and under 18, diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition and who has not received a wish from another wish-granting organization qualifies for the Make-A-Wish Foundation®. It is the child’s primary doctor who determines whether or not a child has a life-threatening medical condition. Once referred and qualified, the wish staff and a team of two volunteers visit the child to determine the child’s wish. The Foundation® then works with local businesses, volunteers and “generous hearts” to help fulfill the wish of the child.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, Indiana Region, is at 7330 Woodland Drive, Suite 201, Indianapolis, IN 46278. Its office phone number is 317-636-6060, and fax is 317-636-2445.
Visit the website at www.makeawishindiana.org[[In-content Ad]]
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