Saturday, March 24, 2012

Remembering Annie and recognizing undiagnosed adrenal insufficiency

Copied from http://annaleesullivan.blogspot.com/ with permission from Jean Sullivan.

Annie Sullivan

Annalee Grace Sullivan was born on April 7, 2003 and lived the life of a playful, spiritually sensitive, musical child until she was 3 1/2 years old. On January 21, 2007 she suffered an hypoxic brain injury from a seizure caused by undiagnosed Addison's Disease. In spite--or because--of her physical and cognitive limitations, Annie was a blessing to all who knew her. She died on March 25, 2011.

Remembering Annie on March 25th

I got a card in the mail a couple of days ago from my niece, Lorraine, reminding me that she remembers what's coming up next Sunday: Annie's first birthday in heaven. Hmm,first birthday in heaven sounds so much nicer than the first anniversary of her death. I'll stick with that one.

As I've been thinking about what our family should do that day, I came up with 8 ways to honor Annie's memory. Then I had another idea: if you knew Annie and felt inclined, youcan do one of these things, too!

1. Wear something pink.
2. Plant something pink.
3. Buy a pink balloon, write a message to Annie and let it go up to heaven where she can read it.
4. Make pink cupcakes.
5. Buy Heaven, God's Promise for Me, and donate it to the kid's ministry of your church.
6. Donate any Dr. Seuss book, or Brown Bear, Brown Bear to your local elementary school.
7. For you big spenders, donate an IPad to your local school's special ed program. Nonverbal kids like Annie need easy ways to communicate, and IPads make this happen.
8. Hug your kids and thank God every day you get to enjoy them this side of heaven.

And for those of you who have lost loved ones, post a comment about how you honor their memory on anniversary days. Then maybe we'll snag your idea, too.

Jean
Addison's Disease, a disease of the adrenal glands that when undiagnosed, can cause the following symptoms:
  • fatigue
  • darkening of the skin
  • loss of appetite
  • gradual weight loss
  • nausea and vomiting
  • salt cravings
  • low blood pressure which leads to light headedness
  • An ACTH stimulation test is needed to diagnose Addison's Disease (adrenal insufficiency)
  • Undiagnosed and untreated adrenal insufficiency can lead to death in 10% of cases
  • Adrenal Crisis in Emergency Medicine 

    • Author: Kevin M Klauer, DO, FACEP; Chief Editor: Erik D Schraga, MD   more...

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