Blog Hop Day 3: Homeschooling with no energy

I would like to share with you today why we are special needs homeschoolers. My children and I have a mitochondrial disease.

What is mitochondrial disease? Here I’ll let the experts tell you.

From United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation:

Mitochondrial diseases result from failures of the mitochondria, specialized compartments present in every cell of the body except red blood cells. Mitochondria are responsible for creating more than 90% of the energy needed by the body to sustain life and support growth. When they fail, less and less energy is generated within the cell. Cell injury and even cell death follow. If this process is repeated throughout the body, whole systems begin to fail, and the life of the person in whom this is happening is severely compromised. The disease primarily affects children, but adult onset is becoming more and more common.

Diseases of the mitochondria appear to cause the most damage to cells of the brain, heart, liver, skeletal muscles, kidney and the endocrine and respiratory systems.

Depending on which cells are affected, symptoms may include loss of motor control, muscle weakness and pain, gastro-intestinal disorders and swallowing difficulties, poor growth, cardiac disease, liver disease, diabetes, respiratory complications, seizures, visual/hearing problems, lactic acidosis, developmental delays and susceptibility to infection

In front of Cinderella’s castle with their lapbooks.

For us the worst of what we deal with is:

Strokes

Eye Problems

GI Problems

Muscles Weakness

Seizures

Autism

This is a problem on the cellular level. It is progressive and life shortening.  Illness and metabolic stress can make our problems worse. Simple things like a hot summer’s day can make a couple of my children very sick since they do not sweat enough to cool their bodies. That heat that builds up causes metabolic stress. We have needed to adapt our lives to mito so the children and I have the best possible chance at staying healthy and strong.

Homeschooling has allowed us the flexibility we badly need for dealing with this disease. We can go to the specialist and doctors office when the we need it. The winter time is a harsh time of the year for our health. When the kids are sick they are not learning well, so we homeschool all year round.

Homeschooling is so common in mitochondrial disease that MitoAction.org Homeschooling Page .

We are more than the medical. My son loves snow dogs. My lovely 5 year old has dance and music in her soul. My oldest is going to make it on Food Network someday. My 7 year old loves reading and Laura Ingalls Wilder, note the really long hair. My toddler loves stealing her older brother or sister from school and making them hid with a great deal of giggling involved. We may have a disease but it is not in control. We trust in the Lord every step of the way.

Psalm 18:32
It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.

I share our story not for pity. I want you to know that if we can homeschool successfully for 10 years now (like we have!) YOU CAN TOO! I know you can homeschool despite any special need your child has or you have. Best of luck homeschooling my friends!

Here are a few more post about my wonderful silly family:

The Life of our Christmas Tree

Little things that make me smile and praise the Lord!

Living the life I preach