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“The Two Dollar Tip
that Meant a Million”
By Art Garland
"I can't wait to get my hair cut with my birthday money!" exclaimed
Heather who turned 38 on June 7. She had been saving her money
for her visit to her Mamaw Honeycutt’s where she is officially “On
vacation for three weeks”! However, before coming to Darke County
she was busy participating and winning medals at the Special Olympics
events held in her own home town.
Melissa Phillips, works at a quaint friendly little beauty salon
in Bradford called, "Theresa's". She does my hair and when called
she gladly made an appointment for Heather that work around our
schedule. Heather could hardly wait! What’s so unusual
about this your might ask? It’s because on July 10th, Melissa
made a special trip to the salon especially to cut the birthday girls
hair, having no other appointments scheduled and having clue Heather
was any different than any other woman.
Heather is a total delight and loved by all who meet her
immediately. She was born with a genetic disorder called Tuberous
Sclerosis Complex (TSC) -- a rare, multi-system genetic disease that
causes benign tumors to grow in the brain and on other vital organs
such as the kidneys, heart, eyes, lungs, and skin.
Heather's family was told she would be completely mentally retarded,
never potty trained, never talk, never ride a bike, or do any of the
things normal children do. Well she has certainly proved the doctors
wrong. While she still struggles with seizure control and is constantly
trying different medications to control them, she is active with
the Center for Disabilities, doing a Karaoke performance solo each
year. She loves Country Music but cannot read so she memorizes
her songs. She loves to draw pictures and give them to
people. She enjoys dances, bowling, cooking and craft classes as
well as being very active with participating in The Special
Olympics. This year she came home with Gold and Silver medals for
bowling and Basketball Individual Skills Competitions.
As with Heather, who has been having seizures since 3 weeks of age,
many TSC patients show evidence of the disorder in the first year of
life. However, clinical features can be subtle initially, and many
signs and symptoms take years to develop and can skip generations. As a
result, TSC can be unrecognized or misdiagnosed for years.
Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a genetic disorder that causes
non-malignant tumors to form in many different organs, primarily in the
brain, eyes, heart, kidney, skin and lungs. The aspects of TSC that
most strongly impact quality of life are generally associated with the
brain: seizures, developmental delay, intellectual disability and
autism.
The growth of tumors resulting from TSC is not as severely unregulated
as in cancer, but these tumors may still cause serious problems. Tumors
that grow in the brain can block the flow of cerebral spinal fluid in
the spaces (ventricles) in the brain. This can lead to behavioral
changes, nausea, headaches or a number of other symptoms. In the heart,
the tumors are usually at their largest at birth and then decrease in
size as the individual gets older. These heart tumors can cause
problems at birth if they are blocking the flow of blood or causing
severe arrhythmia. The tumors in the eyes are not as common, but can
present problems if they grow and block too much of the retina. The
tumors in the kidney (renal angiomyolipomas) can become so large they
eventually disrupt normal kidney function or begin to bleed internally.
In the past, kidney failure was almost inevitable. Today, doctors can
use drug therapy to their life by their physician for potential
complications. Thanks to research findings and improved medical
therapies, people with TSC are experiencing better health care than
ever before. But more research is needed until we find a cure.
Both of Heather’s kidneys have been affected dramatically by this
disorder and are at 50% combined function. The kidneys are covered with
so many angiomyolipomas that there is no visible healthy tissue to be
seen on CT and MRI scans. Heather nearly died in 2010 when she had to
endure two surgeries on her kidneys. The first was to repair an
aneurysm on her renal artery that was extremely close to rupturing. We
were told that had it not been discovered when it was, she would not
have survived if it had ruptured. She then had another surgery to
perform embolization on the numerous remaining aneurysms that will be a
continual battle on both of her kidneys to prevent them from getting
larger and causing internal bleeding. "We thank Jesus every day for
directing us to Cincinnati Children's Hospital for saving her life.
None of the physicians we were seeing detected the life
threatening Aneurism on her renal artery. Thank you Jesus for being
with her and us then and now", states her mother. "We thank Jesus every
day for directing us to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital and the
doctors who, with God’s wonderful grace, saved her life.
After the visit was over, Melissa told me the amount of money Heather
gave her and the amount she returned in change. Heather was
beaming with pride at her new doo! I asked, "Heather, do you like
your hair to which she replied, "Yes!". I told her that when
someone has been given a service they are happy with, they should show
it by "tipping" that person with extra money. Quickly she dug
through her purse and generously produced two one dollar bills and
handed them to Melissa and hugged her tightly. Melissa had tears
in her eyes.
On the way out I gave Melissa a hug and told her not to spend the two
bucks all in one place and she replied it might only be two bucks to
you, but it means a million to me.
See the video here
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