Welcome to Beachview Dreams Foundation...
where the beginning of the boardwalk is the start of Dream Vacations!
Introducing our Summer 2023 DREAMERS
Anna
Anna has always loved the beach! When she was very young, she toddled over, picked up the tow rope for her older sister's boogie board, dragged it to the water, and plopped down on it! She is always up for an adventure and her attitude is "Count me in!"
As Anna grew up, she developed a severe spinal curvature and lost her ability to walk. She had spinal fusion surgery and has been working for years to rehabilitate. She is now able to stand and even walk with assistance! She can sit up without support and has learned to drive her own wheelchair! Every day, she listed the things she would pack in her beach bag, pretending to reach for them and put them in an imaginary beach bag. This was very motivating, and helped her build her core strength. Her nurse and I began to dream about how we could get her to the beach.
As I searched online for truly accessible beach housing with a roll in shower, the places were all a plane trip away, which would preclude Anna from going since she carries an oxygen tank on her chair at all times in case of a seizure. Then I came across Beachview Dreams, and it looked like it would actually work for Anna! Even better, it's located at the same beach where she dragged that boogie board to the water so many years ago. We are so grateful that Beachview Dreams has given Anna the opportunity to return to the beach that she loves!
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Teddy
Teddy's primary diagnosis is Cerebral Palsy (multiple brain damage), cortical
visual impairment, setd5 syndrome, seizure disorder and diabetes insipidus.
Throughout his life Teddy has had several surgeries. He had a nissan put in with feeding tube, ear tubes twice, hernia's fixed, circumcision revision, right hamstring and aductur lenghtened, and spine fusion.
Coming up he will have major right and left hip surgery and eye surgery to fix his roaming eyes. Also he has had several ICU stays due to health issues. He is sadly unable to speak or walk.
He has very little function but you can tell that he enjoys things in life. School is a favorite of his along with church. He isthe big ten years old now. You can follow his journey
on face book at www.facebook.com/prayersfortheodoregrayrhoades.
Addison
Addison is almost 15 and has 2 amazing sisters, 9 and 11. Addy started struggling right at birth but seemed to meet all the typical milestones, some delayed but not significantly. We went through genetic testing but nothing showed initially. At 4 she started more extensive PT and OT to help her. She was then diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and Autism. Addison has always been a fighter and worked so hard, her body never stopped and she loved being everywhere, with everyone. She was declining but not rapidly, slowly she was struggling with walking and talking/sounds. We saw specialists, traveled and tried to find anyone that could help us.
At the age of 8 we received a call telling us they found something in her genetic testing. She has an extremely rare degenerative brain disease. Very similar to what we know as ALS but this seems to me more dragged out and in children. She was one of seven when we were diagnosed, now six years later she is one of around 30 children all across the world with this awful debilitating disease. Since our diagnosis we have decided to look at the big picture and focus on quality of life, she is not on this earth for us and we refuse to allow anymore suffering. She is now fully wheelchair bound, has no use of her extremities and is fully g/j tube fed.
Currently she is being followed by Hospice and we continue to work to keep her healthy and comfortable. As a family it is extremely difficult to travel, financially and all the logistics (items needed for addy). We love being together, playing games and just spending time doing things as a family. We are so extremely grateful for this opportunity to have time as a family to enjoy a vacation stress free. We want to thank Beachview Dreams Foundation for granting us this time together.
Tyler & Megan
These are my children Tyler 26, Megan 24, and Bailee 9. Tyler and Megan are diagnosed with PMM2 CDG Type 1a. Although born with this disease, they were not diagnosed until they were 3 and 4 years old. This disease affects every aspect of their lives. They have a small cerebellum resulting in many delays including gross motor, fine motor, speech and intellectual disabilities. In the early stages of their lives, they suffered from various feeding issues, reflux, and failure to thrive. They both required feeding tubes to survive. They have since had them removed as they began to eat more food by mouth and attended and intense feeding program at Hershey Medical Center.
Since the early years of their lives, Tyler and Megan have thrived. Tyler walks with a walker. He is a witty young man with a sense of humor like no other. He loves gaming on his Xbox, watching NASCAR, teasing his sisters and picking on everyone he meets. He has a way of making everyone around him smile with his goofy humor.
Megan is a sweet girl with a fierce temper. She has a smile that will light up any room. She is empathetic and caring. She loves to be the mother hen of the family. Megan uses a motorized wheelchair. She loves coloring, doing workbooks, playing on her tablet, playing with her baby doll and hanging out with her baby sister. Megan’s physical health has declined. She used to walk with a walker but due to hip problems she is now in a wheelchair. She crawls throughout the house but when out she needs her chair.
Tyler and Megan have taught everyone in our house how to love at a greater level. They have shown us unconditional love and we are a better family just because they are in our family with their different abilities.
Isabelle
Isabelle, or Izzy as she prefers to be called, was born in Scranton, PA on October 05, 2002. Her family was extremely excited to meet her. Her Mom, Jaime, and her Dad, Danny, wanted nothing more than to be parents. Unfortunately within minutes of her birth, the medical staff along with her parents, grandparents and Godmother knew something was not quite right. Izzy had ingested afterbirth and her breathing was labored. She was quickly transferred to a nearby hospital with a NICU. Following a few days of tests, Izzy was diagnosed with meningitis. She battled hard as a baby and beat the odds (some doctors didn’t think she’d make it through her first night). In true Izzy fashion, she proved them wrong (the first of many times she has shown that through sheer determination and perseverance, she can overcome anything). She developed slowly as an infant and toddler, eventually being diagnosed with Psudo Bulbar cerebral palsy and that she would never walk or talk. But that’s not Izzy’s story - that’s one part of who she is.
Izzy LOVES to sing and dance. She doesn’t care who’s around to watch or join in, she’s jamming out. She also loves sports. She plays baseball, soccer, basketball and runs track. She competed in Special Olympics as a runner and thrower for many years. This past year, her unified Bocce team made it all the way to PA State playoff. She is an amazing bowler and loves fishing as well.
Izzy also loves animals. She has three dogs, Carly, Ella and a dog named Izzy (yes, her dog has the same name). She also has a Guinea pig named Emma.
Izzy graduated high school this year and is going to work at a local pet store. She loves the water -pools, hot tubs, long baths. She also enjoys the beach on hot, sunny summer days.
Most of all, Izzy is the kindest, sweetest, loving person who makes her family proud every day. She has a pure heart. She makes the most out of life and embraces the possibilities life has to offer, focusing on what she can do, not what she's told is out of her reach.
Finley
Finley is 8 years old, in 2nd grade, and lives in Northern NY with his twin sister, Eve, his big brother, Ivan and his Mom and Dad. He has the worlds biggest smile, gives the best hugs, and can climb literally anything!
Finley was diagnosed with Autism when he was three and is currently non-verbal. Finley uses an AAC device to communicate. Autism means something different for everyone, but for Finley, the part of his brain that tells him something is scary or dangerous doesn’t always work, so his family and school staff have to always be near him on high alert. Finley loves the water and is often referred to as a “Beach Baby”. He is kind and loving and we are so thankful to be spending some time in OCNJ.
Monica
My name is Monica, I’m 34 years old and a mother to two terrific kids! When I am feeling well I love to spend time with my family relaxing by our pool. At the age of 32 I was diagnosed with stage 3 triple negative invasive ductal carcinoma which had spread into my lymph nodes. I did 6 months of IV chemo, double mastectomy, 6 weeks of radiation and then 6 months of oral chemo. After 5 short months of being in remission, I had found out that my cancer was back. Now diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, I found out that it had spread to my bones, brain and liver. I am currently on my third line of chemotherapy treatment, as it seems my cancer is so aggressive and not responding well to chemo. I am hopeful that in the near future I will hear some good news and continue my fight and hopefully get better as each day passes. Thank you so much to Beachview Dreams for allowing me to enjoy some time with my family this summer.
Angelina
This is our daughter Angelina. She is 14 years old and in general she is a happy little girl who has a great smile that always brightens our day. She has had a lot of health struggles that started even before she was born. We had been trying for years to have a baby with no medical explanations as to why we couldn’t. We had literally just sent for information from Catholic Charities to find out about adopting a child with special needs when I found out I was pregnant with Angelina. It was three months on bed rest with preclampsia and an emergency c section before she even came into the world. She currently attends an MDS classroom with a nurse. She has been diagnosed with non verbal autism, sensory processing disorder, type 1 diabetes, PCOS that required removing a cyst adenoma and luckily benign fibroid tumor 2 years ago. She has a rare chromosome duplication and mitochondrial disorder that she is followed for in Johns Hopkins. Whew! I think I covered everything! Despite all of that she is a resilient and generally very giggly little girl who loves being around other children. We are so grateful to be offered this vacation from Beachview Dreams!