CARES Foundation

Since 2004, when Jake was diagnosed with CAH, at 4 days old, we found the CARES Foundation online and I have been amazed ever since. This foundation is so important to people like myself who had no guidance or anywhere to turn when a diagnosis is made with your child. Being a new Mom, learning the ropes of motherhood, all in addition to learning about a rare disease that now becomes top priority because without learning about it, your child will be the one who suffers...is all SO much to take in. With the support of CARES through phone calls and online direction as to how to educate myself on CAH, I can now say that over the past 5 years, I am confident in my understandings of this rare disease and would like to start to help more people who feel just as lost as I did at the beginning of my journey.

I am going to attempt this through assisting more people in FL who might need assistance or just someone to talk to (and for those who know me well, I am always one to listen and talk).

This is not an easy task. Learning about how to care for a child with CAH is wearing on the parents. We as parents only want to best for our children and sometimes it is just nice to talk to someone who has been through the same types of experiences. CAH is still so rare and many questions come with many "possible" outcomes. Personal experiences are one of the best ways to learn.

A huge thank you to all of the main CARES people in NJ and especially to Debbie Brown. She has been a wealth of information and such a nice person to speak with.

For all of you who I am so excited to meet, please know that I am available at any time to talk, pass along information or give you any insight to my personal experiences with my son and soon my daughter. I have learned alot through ecperience with CAH, doctors, medicine, etc. I hope that some pieces might help someone out there as I remember how scared I was at the beginning. There are great people out there to help. I hope I can be one of them.