Party of 9 – a Column by Betty Vertin

What’s it like to have three children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)? That’s the question I’m asked more than any other, as a mom and caregiver to three sons with DMD: Max, 18, Rowen, 15, and Charlie, 13. Of course, that question is only asked by parents or grandparents…

My oldest son, Max, 18, graduated from high school last Sunday. Graduation is a milestone for all who achieve it, but since Max lives with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), it felt like an even greater accomplishment. I was bursting with emotion, including joy, relief, happiness, and fear.

Life with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) doesn’t get easier as time goes by, but it’s made better by laughter, love, and everything that’s learned along the way. Three of my seven children have DMD: Max, 18; Rowen, 15; and Charlie, 13. As you might imagine, my life is…

Spring is by far the busiest season for my family. I have seven children who range in age from 2 to 23 years old, and three of them, Max, 18, Rowen, 15, and Charlie, 13, are living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Caregiving for my three sons with…

I have three sons with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Max, 18, Rowen, 15, and Charlie, 13, are part of a bustling family, joined by four other siblings: Lexi, 22, Chance, 16, Mary, 9, and Callie, 2. We have no sets of twins or multiples, yet I have often grouped…

It’s now tornado season here in Nebraska, which is part of the U.S. Tornado Alley. I could write a column about Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) being like a tornado in the way it came tearing through the life we’d established when my three sons — Max, 18,…

I have three sons with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD): Max, 18, Rowen, 15, and Charlie, 13. When Max was young, he met all of his developmental milestones late. He didn’t sit up until he was 11 months old, crawl until after his first birthday, or walk until he was…

I have three sons with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD): Max, 18, Rowen, 15, and Charlie, 13. While caregiving and parenting three young men with Duchenne is full of the challenges and heartaches I often share in this column, they do not outweigh the beautiful moments. Joy and…

My mind is spinning like the wheels on my son’s power wheelchair in the freshly fallen snow. You did not read that wrong, and it’s not a hypothetical. Here in Nebraska, it snowed this last week of March. It feels like a second winter. As if the spring snow isn’t…

I recently took my three sons with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) to a hospital in Denver for three days of a clinical trial. One day was for each of them — Max, 18, Rowen, 15, and Charlie, 13 — and then they each had a day of cardiac…