Storytelling, Awareness, and the Race Against Time in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
A conversation with advocate Thomas Bartlett on why storytelling and public awareness, as much as science, drive funding, policy, and access in Duchenne.
All articles and blog posts tagged #families.
A conversation with advocate Thomas Bartlett on why storytelling and public awareness, as much as science, drive funding, policy, and access in Duchenne.
A reported comparison of how Duchenne families in the United States and Georgia experience access, advocacy, and the urgency of time.
A journalist's first-person account of interviewing parents of children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in Georgia, and what the conversation revealed.
Inside the Duchenne movement in Georgia: families, children, daily life, and what it costs to wait.
A reported piece on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, access to treatment, and the role information plays in deciding who receives care in time.
Expert, multidisciplinary care improves outcomes in Duchenne. How to find a specialist center, what good care looks like, and when to seek a second opinion.
Duchenne care involves many decisions. How to become an informed partner, understand the options and trade-offs, and share decisions well with the care team.
Grieving what is not yet lost is common in Duchenne. What anticipatory grief is, why it happens, how it shows up, and ways families and support can help.
Duchenne can affect the gut as well as the limbs. Reflux, slow stomach emptying, bloating, and constipation: why they happen, and how to keep the gut comfortable.
Duchenne often means several daily medicines. How to organise doses, avoid missed ones, handle school and travel, track side effects, and keep it manageable.
Birthdays, holidays, and celebrations matter for every child. How families with Duchenne adapt special occasions so a child can take part fully and enjoy them.
Creatine kinase, or CK, is a blood marker that is very high in Duchenne. What CK is, why it rises, what the number does and does not mean, and how it is used.
A Duchenne diagnosis affects grandparents and extended family too. How they experience it, the support they can offer, and how to navigate help and boundaries.
Fat embolism syndrome is a rare but serious emergency that can follow a minor fall or fracture in Duchenne. Warning signs, why it happens, and acting fast.
Fathers of children with Duchenne face the diagnosis in their own way, and their needs are often overlooked. A father's experience, role, and support.
People with Duchenne are living longer into adulthood. What adult life can hold beyond medical care: work, independent living, relationships, and self-direction.
No family should face Duchenne alone. How connecting with other families helps, where to find peer support, and how to use online communities wisely.
Deciding whether a child joins a Duchenne clinical trial is hard. What participation involves, the hopes and burdens, questions to ask, and how families weigh it.
Duchenne nights can be broken by repositioning, discomfort, and breathing support. How to make nights easier for the child and protect the caregiver's own sleep.
Duchenne can affect the brain as well as muscles. The learning, attention, and behavioural differences linked to DMD, why they happen, and how assessment helps.
Belonging matters as much as access at school. How children with Duchenne can be included socially, how to handle exclusion or bullying, and what schools can do.
As children with Duchenne become teenagers, supporting independence and self-advocacy matters as much as medical care. How families and teams help them lead.
Once a child with Duchenne uses a wheelchair full time, skin and pressure care matter. Why pressure injuries happen, how to prevent them, and what to watch for.
Activity matters in Duchenne, within limits. Why gentle, guided movement and accessible recreation help, what to avoid, and how children stay involved.
When eating becomes hard in Duchenne, a gastrostomy can protect nutrition and weight. What tube feeding is, when it is considered, and what the decision involves.
As Duchenne progresses, children need more help with personal care. How to support washing, dressing, and toileting while protecting privacy and dignity.
Fatigue in Duchenne: why children tire more easily, how it affects school and daily life, and energy-conservation strategies that help them do more.
Organizing a child's Duchenne medical information: what to keep in a care binder, why it helps across a multidisciplinary team, and how to keep it current.
Airway clearance in Duchenne: why a weak cough raises infection risk, how assisted coughing and cough-assist machines help, and when families bring them in.
Respite care for Duchenne families: what respite means, the types available, how to find and fund it, and why accepting help protects the whole family.
Hand and upper-limb function in Duchenne: how arm and hand strength change over time, why it matters for independence, and how therapy and adaptations help.
How caregiving for a child with Duchenne affects parents' employment and income, and practical ways to protect both work and the care a child needs.
Explaining a Duchenne diagnosis to grandparents, friends, classmates, and the wider community: what to share, when, and how to handle reactions and advice.
When a child with Duchenne stops walking, care shifts: why it happens, what to expect, and how scoliosis, cardiac, and respiratory monitoring intensify.
Female carriers of DMD: manifesting carriers, cardiac involvement, why surveillance matters even for asymptomatic mothers, and what to ask the team.
Insurance appeals in DMD: when denials happen, how to structure the appeal letter, what evidence helps, and how patient organizations support families.
Surgery preparation in DMD: pre-operative assessments, multidisciplinary planning, family logistics, and what to bring to the hospital.
Telemedicine in DMD: when virtual visits work, what they cannot replace, and how families can prepare to get the most from a remote appointment.
Patient organizations in DMD: PPMD, MDA, CureDuchenne, Jett Foundation, Duchenne UK. What they do, how families use them, and how to get involved.
Managing sick days in DMD at home: fever, respiratory infections, missed corticosteroids, and when to call the clinic or head to the emergency room.
Siblings in DMD families: what they often experience, what helps, and how parents and care teams can support them through the long course of the disease.
Social life in DMD: peer relationships, summer camps, hobbies, and what families can do to keep a child connected as the disease progresses.
Returning to school after a DMD diagnosis: briefing teachers, talking to classmates, the first weeks, and what families can plan.
Endocrine care in DMD: growth, puberty, adrenal suppression, and why patients on long-term corticosteroids need an endocrinologist on the team.
Practical guidance on insurance, disability benefits, copay assistance, equipment funding, and long-term financial planning for DMD families.
A practical guide to the multidisciplinary DMD care team: neuromuscular, cardiac, pulmonary, rehab, endocrine, psychosocial, and how they coordinate.
A practical guide to the multidisciplinary DMD care team: neuromuscular, cardiac, pulmonary, rehab, endocrine, psychosocial, and how they coordinate.
Speech-language therapy in DMD: dysphagia assessment, voice preservation, communication strategies, and when to start working with an SLP.
Bowel and bladder dysfunction in DMD: prevalence, why it happens, practical management, and when to escalate.
Genetic counseling in DMD: carrier testing for mothers and sisters, recurrence risk, family planning options, and what a counseling visit covers.
Assistive technology in DMD: switches, eye-gaze, AAC, smart-home, and how to stage the toolkit as upper-extremity function changes.
Dental care in DMD: routine cleaning, oral health, sedation and anesthesia precautions, and how to brief a dentist who has not treated DMD before.
Chronic pain in DMD is common, under-recognized, and treatable. A practical overview for families and care teams.
Travel with DMD: airline notice for power wheelchairs, batteries, BiPAP and cough assist, medications, documents, and what to plan before the trip.
Emergency preparedness in DMD: the emergency card, steroid stress dosing, anesthesia and cardiac alerts, and how to brief a hospital that does not know your child.
Nutrition in DMD: weight management on steroids, bone-supporting nutrients, constipation, swallowing changes, and when to involve a dietitian.
Practical home modifications for DMD families: doorways, bathrooms, bedrooms, ramps, lifts, and how to plan ahead without overbuilding.
Wheelchair selection in DMD: when to consider one, manual vs power, seating, growth-ready features, and what families should ask the team.
Health information about Duchenne can be misleading, exaggerated, or incomplete. Practical media literacy questions for families.
Age-appropriate, honest conversations about Duchenne with the child who has it: what helps, what to avoid, and when to ask for help.
Many DMD parents become advocates. This guide describes what that work involves, how to start, and how to do it sustainably.
Some families relocate or travel abroad for Duchenne treatment. The decision involves access, evidence, logistics, finances, and family.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy quietly redraws who does what at home, with consequences for partners, siblings, and grandparents.
The first year after a Duchenne diagnosis is intense, fragmented, and full of decisions. A guide to what families can expect and ask.
Mental health in Duchenne muscular dystrophy care: patients, parents, siblings, anxiety, depression, behavior, and caregiver strain.
Caregiver burnout in Duchenne muscular dystrophy is common, predictable, and treatable. Recognizing the signs early protects the whole family.
Dmd standards of care include coordinated neuromuscular, heart, lung, rehab, bone, nutrition, and psychosocial support.
Use this dmd clinical trial guide to understand phases, endpoints, eligibility, placebo, risks, and questions for a care team.