by Sara Hacking,
Staff Writer
Last July the Pioneer Journal published a story on Meghan Wellnitz, a 4-year-old girl who was awarded a Minnesota Make-A-Wish Foundation-sponsored trip to Orlando Fla., with her parents and siblings. Meghan, now 5, has DiGeorge Syndrome, a disease caused by a large deletion of a certain chromosome.
Meghan's mother, Lisa Wellnitz, provided the Pioneer Journal with an update on Meghan's condition and the family's involvement with raising awareness about DiGeorge Syndrome.
The Wellnitz family has moved from Wadena to Fargo to be closer to Meghan's doctors. Lisa said the Fargo doctors have helped Meghan tremendously, although the family misses Meghan's long-time physician, Mark Paulson at MeritCare in Perham.
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Meghan is doing well, although she is scheduled for another surgery to put a G-Tube back because of complications twice this winter.
Meghan enjoyed the trip to Florida last August and is still talking about meeting Mickey Mouse and all the princesses at Disney World, Lisa said. The fun-filled vacation included a three-day pass to Disney World, a two-day pass to Sea World and a one-day pass to Universal Studios.
Meghan will start kindergarten in the fall. She will go to school two full days and be home-schooled the rest the of week due to her immune deficiency.
Meghan has full-blown DiGeorge Syndrome, while her brother Matthew, 7, and sister Carly, 4, all have milder forms of the disease. Meghan possesses 30 of the 188 possible abnormalities caused by the syndrome, including asthma, seizures, heart disease, lung disease, acid reflux disease, pulmonary stenosis, delayed speech and a susceptibility to aspiration pneumonia. Meghan also has some of the facial features associated with the disease including slanted eyes, minor ear deformities and extra teeth.
Lisa will graduate next May from North Dakota State University as a registered nurse. She plans on helping parents with disabled children. Lisa has become an advocate for the rights of disabled children. She was involved in establishing the first support group in North Dakota for children born with chromosome 22 deletion and primary immune deficiencies.
The Wellnitzes are also involved in an effort to establish April 15 as DiGeorge Awareness Day.
