Washburn Erickson Family Fund

The Washburn/Erickson Family are some of my dearest friends to the point I truly consider them family. I have known Lizzy Washburn my entire life, and since we both don't have sisters, we became each other's sisters. Her family has had a rough year (see below for details). It is hard to watch the kindest and most generous people I know go thru such a year. I can't do much, but I can create this page and ask anyone in a position to help to donate to this amazing family.

2022 started with what we thought was just a bad cold for Owen. But after he should have recovered, his motor skills quickly deteriorated to the point of him no longer able to walk or even stand without pain (he was 2.5 at the time). We went through months of tests and eventually found out he has a kidney disease (Fanconi Syndrome with Renal Tubular Acidosis type 2) that doesn’t allow his body to absorb minerals as it should. This caused him many problems, among them the softening of his bones called rickets. We still haven’t been able to determine why he has this although they suspect it is something genetic that as of right now is undiscovered. We started him on meds. He needs to take two rounds of meds, three times a day. This will be for the rest of his life. The good news is it is working! He started walking again one month after starting on treatment.  He just turned 3 and jumped for the first time ever the other day!

During these months while we were searching for a diagnosis we welcomed our second child Amelia. She is doing great.

At the end of September, we hit another setback when Hurricane Ian came through. We own and run and eco touring business based on Marco Island. The newest boat to our fleet, a 44-foot catamaran was badly damaged. Our three other boats did fine, but our business took a big hit as people canceled trips for the months of October and November. And we obviously had to cancel all the trips scheduled for the catamaran for the rest of the calendar year at least until we can repair it.

The hardest part about this year is we no longer have a savings we once had. We will rebuild but the anxiety I have is the medical costs for Owen until we can recover. With insurance, we still pay about $250/month for Owen’s medication. That will only go up as he grows. There are also some unknown things…although the rickets are going away, they still aren’t gone and he doesn’t yet have full range of motion in his knees. We don’t yet know if surgery will be needed to correct some of the bone deformities that rickets caused. On top of that, we have multiple specialist visits and very possibly the need to get on growth hormone to correct his growth which was stunted.

It’s been by far the hardest year of my life but also has made me so grateful for what we have. As I helplessly watched Owen deteriorate, I learned of all the truly awful diagnoses out there and feel so lucky we have one that is at least treatable. Hurricane Ian has caused us financial pain, but we were very near others who lost everything. Finally, I am so grateful for the friends and family who have been checking in and asking about us, sending cards, and praying for us. And now the friends who understand the financial strain we are under and want to help us in this way. No matter what, we appreciate it all so much. I feel overwhelmed by the outpouring of love we have received. ❤️