We have all seen – either firsthand or in a loved one – the difficulties that injuries and illnesses bring to daily life. Often we picture these issues as affecting older people, but many young people face similar struggles and must do so while striving to maintain some sense of normalcy – attending school and spending time with friends. We talked to three Dublin teens about their health and how they cope.
Mark Burkholder
All of Mark Burkholder’s friends from Dublin Jerome High School are at college. Mark would like to be attending college, too, but right now he spends most of his days at home with his parents or at an adult day program in Sunbury.
Mark was a popular, athletic 16-year-old when an accident changed his life forever. In August 2010, Mark was riding a long board while holding onto the back of a moving car when he fell and hit his head. Initially, the injury appeared to be just a severe concussion, but afterward, his brain swelled and he had severe complications – including the near failure of his liver.
“He had to learn to eat, walk, talk, everything,” says Mark’s mother, Toni.
“I still can’t snap,” says Mark, slowly. The traumatic brain injury to his frontal lobe has left him with lasting effects to his judgment, impulsivity, focus, short-term memory and control of his right side. A cast on his left hand is meant to encourage him to use his right side, hopefully regaining some of the lost function through practice.
“It’s been a real adjustment,” Toni says. “He did graduate from Dublin Jerome High School this past June. Originally I thought he was going to be going to college and playing lacrosse.”
Mark, now 19, went back to school in February 2011 accompanied by an aide. He was in mainstream classes until his issues with impulse control became a problem for classmates and teachers. After that, he was moved to special needs classrooms for some of his courses and one-on-one tutoring for others. His senior year, he did hands-on job training in the copy center and the school store. He hopes to attend college in the future, possibly accompanied by an aide, Toni says.
Now Mark’s day starts fairly early, often around 5 a.m.; like many TBI patients, he doesn’t sleep very well.
“We go through the breakfast routine exactly the same way every morning to keep him on a schedule,” Toni says.
Mark can get up, eat breakfast, brush his teeth and dress himself. Monday through Friday, he attends Dreamshine at Autumn Lakes in Sunbury, which provides vocational and life and independent living skills. Recently, he’s begun tutoring some of the other attendees in speech therapy.
And the learning doesn’t stop there. When he gets home, he’ll spend some time doing occupational or physical therapy exercises or using the computer programs Lumosity or Fast ForWord, which are designed to improve cognitive performance.
He still has an extensive vocabulary. It just takes him a little longer to get the words out. The most frustrating thing for him is memory issues: not being able to recall exactly what happened, Toni says.
“Our goal is to be independent, right?” she says, looking to Mark, who nods.
Grayson Willson
In December 2008, eighth-grader Grayson Willson started feeling sick. She lost about 30 pounds in a month – but didn’t think too much of it. Then, after winter break, she vomited without any apparent reason.
“I was feeling under the weather, and it was either going to school or going to the doctor,” says Willson, the second of Frank and Lisa Willson’s three daughters. Frank Willson is vice president of marketing at AEP Energy.
The urine test the doctor performed on Grayson came back filled with sugar.
“They told me to pack my bag. I was going to the hospital. I’m a diabetic.”
Willson was introduced to a new way of life – carting around testing supplies, insulin and sugary snacks, just in case.
“I had to grow up a lot sooner than a lot of my friends. I was suddenly in control of my life and my health, and a lot of people aren’t thinking about that at age 13,” she says.
Now 18, the Jerome alumna is attending Ohio University and studying to become a speech therapist.
“I kind of got into the whole ‘helping people’ idea,” she says.
After her diagnosis, she began volunteering with Miracle League and in the Children’s Clubhouse at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, a place for siblings of patients to play.
“I would say I’m a lot more appreciative of what I have (now),” Grayson says. “Before I got diagnosed, I kind of took things for granted. After I was diagnosed, I started volunteering more and (being thankful) for the people that I have in my life.”
Grayson will soon get an implanted glucose sensor to monitor her blood sugar, which she anticipates will help her maintain her blood sugar at optimal levels.
“It’s not perfect. It’s definitely been a rough journey,” she says.
Clare Wilsbacher
For Clare Wilsbacher, 16, being active used to mean dance lessons at BalletMet’s Dance Academy six days a week. Now she walks the trails through Dublin to get her exercise.
Physical activity is important for Clare, who was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis two years ago.
“Staying active keeps your joints and tendons working. So even though I can’t dance, I do Pilates, yoga, walking, even marching band. Just staying active is the most important thing,” Clare says. “Just this past week during exams, I had to sit down and study for hours on end. Same with the tests – for an hour and a half. Afterwards I’m very stiff, and I walk like an old lady.”
A twinge in her hip during dance was the first sign of any problem. Next came a dislocated knee, which, after a year of physical therapy, revealed a benign tumor behind her kneecap, leading to surgery. Eventually, the physical therapist referred Clare to a rheumatologist, who looked at her family medical history – she has an aunt with psoriatic arthritis – and made a diagnosis.
“It sort of fit me perfectly,” Clare says of the description of her aunt’s history of the disease. Psoriatic arthritis differs from rheumatoid arthritis in that it is asymmetrical; one knee or hip or shoulder will hurt more than the one on the opposite side.
Since her diagnosis, she’s had to stop dancing. Instead she’s focused on marching band and German Club. Clare has been saxophone section leader in the Dublin Jerome Marching Band for the last two years, a rarity for sophomores. An International Baccalaureate student, she was also president of German Club last year and co-president this year. And she’ll be participating in The Friendship Connection exchange program, visiting Germany this summer.
A 504 Plan through the school district allows certain accommodations, including an upper locker – bending down to access a lower locker would be problematic – and an extra set of textbooks for home so she doesn’t have to carry them back and forth to school.
The drugs Clare takes to prevent joint damage, stave off flare-ups and mitigate her daily pain make her more susceptible to illnesses. When she had the flu last year, it was for 20 days instead of 10.
“Even though I have pain every day, it’s just what I’m used to at this point,” Clare says. “I’m a lifelong planner. ... I was always planning on pursuing a career in dance. Once I hit that major injury that started the ball rolling, I thought, ... ‘What else can I do?’”
The nuclear disaster following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011 sparked her interest.
“Ever since then, I’ve been really focused on nuclear engineering,” she says.
Lisa Aurand is editor of Dublin Life Magazine. Feedback welcome at laurand@cityscenemediagroup.com.
