Welcome to Beachview Dreams Foundation...
where the beginning of the boardwalk is the start of Dream Vacations!
Introducing our Summer 2024 DREAMERS
Natalie
Jayse & Josiah
Caitlyn
Natalie is a nine-year-old girl who embodies strength, resilience. Natalie was born with a rare disease and a seizure disorder. She has seizures nearly everyday. This is something she has faced since being a few months old. Natalie has faced numerous challenges in her young life. Despite her developmental delays, she approaches each day working with her therapists and teachers.
Natalie's gentle spirit and loving nature have touched the lives of everyone around her. She is a beacon of light, shining brightly even in the face of adversity. Her courage and determination inspire myself and others who know her.
As Natalie continues to navigate the ups and downs of living with a rare disease and seizure disorder, she does so each and everyday without complaining. Natalie is a true warrior, a fighter, and a shining star in the lives of those who love her. Natalie enjoys being able to get out the house for walks and seeing new things.
Brian
My name is Brian. 45 years of age & happily married to my wife Holly of almost 25 years. I'm the father of 2 kids, Lacey and Eric, both In their 20's .
2 years ago my life changed as I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. I've been going through chemo every 2 weeks. I was working as an auto technician for the 20 + years and I can no longer perform so I'm a now on disability.
Some on my hobbies that I enjoy with my son is fishing hiking and also we enjoy running our scale RC vehicles I'm also teaching my kids how to repair their own vehicles since that was my job for the longest time. .Thanks to Beachview Dreams for allowing me and my wife the opportunity to enjoy some time away from the everyday doctor appointments and treatments and the time to relax and recoup.
Kristoffer
Kristoffer will be 14 yrs old in August. We knew of his Spina Bifida diagnosis and possible other complications, but we were not prepared for him not breathing at birth. Kris had his meningocele repair at 1 day old, VP shunt for hydrocephalus at 6 days old, Chiari 2 malformation decompression at almost a month old, tracheostomy surgery at almost 2 months old. 5 days later he developed meningitis, had to have his shunt removed and an external one placed until infection cleared before internal shunt inserted 9 days later.
Chiari 2 malformation damages breathing, swallowing and temperature control. Kristoffer does not swallow so gtube was placed in January 2011.
Kris spent almost his first year of life in the hospital before finally coming home in July 2011. Numerous infections and non seizure seizures. He was able to clamp down and hold his breath even with a trach.
He made it till December for taking an ambulance ride for a collapsed lung. A few other ambulance rides and ER visits for infections.
11/2018 discovered his VP shunt was overdraining and was replaced. 8/2019 found an infection in his shunt so had to have that removed, external placed and once infection cleared another internal shunt placed. 14 days of that he had tethered cord surgery.
December 2022 was Fundo and hernia repair which ended up being a longer stay because of the blizzard (hospital is in Buffalo and we live just south near Bills stadium).
Kris is 24/7 ventilator dependent, strictly gtube fed, lower limb partial paralysis, neurogenic bowel and bladder. We are on our 3rd different type of ventilator. He's also had typical kid surgeries like ear tubes and adnoids removed.
But with all this....Kris is the happiest, goofiest, most lovable outgoing kid!!! He loves his pet cats, visiting goats and horses, all animals as long as he can touch them.
Hunter & Brianna
Our journey has been a long one, yet I believe it has made Hunter and Brianna (and us as a family) the people we are today.
Hunter has been diagnosed with autism and high anxiety. His anxiety really has more to do with the terrible bullying that happened to him in his first few years of high school. Sadly, as many of our children sometimes don’t “fit in” the “high school” mold…they get incessantly picked on and bullied. Gratefully, we were able to find him an amazing alternative school program where honestly EVERYONE welcomed him with open arms and he is 100% back on track and loves school again.
In 2020 Hunter had a terrible illness, Steven Johnson syndrome which was probably the hardest few months of his life. It was brought on by a medication reaction but sadly caused many “sores” that appeared all over his body and caused extreme painful blisters that would burst open causing even more pain. Hunter was hospitalized for about a week inpatient at our local Children’s hospital but this was at the very beginning of the COVID outbreak and this also left his immune system extremely vulnerable which caused us extreme anxiety to make sure he didn’t catch any cold or worse, Covid as it could have been a very dangerous situation as his body was already fighting terrible infections. This was most definitely a horrible time in his life, and sadly he does have lasting effects from this illness (both psychological and actual continuing physical effects). However Hunter has been talked about at school as one of the kindest students that always makes sure every student is having the best day they can and always offering to help others. He honestly amazes me everyday and I am so proud to be his mother.
Hunter has amazing computer programming skills and has made several “beta” games from beginning to end. He has recently taken to enjoying photography and videography, and has made several short films…quite frankly always impressing his teachers and of course us (his parents). He is the kindest young man, will always be holding the door for everyone….and even though he has trouble with making eye contact and speaking to people his unending kindness comes out in his actions.
Brianna…my amazing warrior literally had to fight for her life from the moment she was born. Immediately after birth it was obvious there were some serious complications in her world. She was immediately intubated after birth but even that was not allowing her little body to get enough oxygen so she sadly was transferred to the bigger Children’s hospital after birth and admitted straight into the NICU. She battled several collapsed lungs, pneumonia, and other unknown infections, and it was found she had at least one stroke either before being born or shortly after. This caused her to have no use of the left side of her body for the first few months of her life. Thankfully after about 10 days in the NICU after birth she was able to come home and the therapies started almost immediately. I believe she started physical therapy at about 6 weeks of age, and continued throughout her school years.
She was given a very poor prognosis, but with an amazing team of physical, occupational, speech and swim therapy she was able to make great strides and improvements over the years. It certainly was a very long road and our home was always filled with either a therapist for Hunter or Brianna…sometimes several all in the same day!
Unfortunately she did start having seizures at about 2 years of age and still battles them to this day. However she takes everything in stride and recently uses her epilepsy as a way to educate her classmates to not be afraid to be friends with a person with epilepsy. We educate her teachers every year, and then ask to have a few minutes to explain to her classmates what epilepsy and the different types of seizures can look like, so they are not so scared if/when they occur. We have learned that education is the key to dispersing fear!
In addition Brianna also has been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, Autism, anxiety among other diagnoses, some of which are probably related to just being a young lady trying to adjust to her past experiences and be able to realize that sometimes and something she just needs to do in a different way!
She is very shy, reserved and quiet, but she is an absolute amazing artist! Her talents amaze me everyday. Her ability to draw just about anything is beyond amazing to me as I (her mother) struggles to draw a straight line!
Brianna also struggled with terrible bullying at the high school, and that caused some very hard times for her, but we are also grateful she was accepted into the same schooling program that Hunter is attending and once again she is back thriving in her education and more importantly accepted by her peers.
Both of my children have had a rough childhood with their diagnoses/illnesses, but I really believe their journey has made them the incredibly resilient children they are today. Nothing has been “easy” for them, yet they have never complained once. We have tried to always show them how lucky they are and that they are completely AWESOME exactly the way they are.
Many families can take a “vacation” and not have the worries or concerns that come along with what my children have experienced. They both thrive on strict routines and need to know what to expect and what’s coming next. We have dreamed of taking them to the beach but we never anticipated that dream coming true.
This opportunity is something our family desperately needs to just “take a break” from our everyday life and routine and try something new. I have no doubts there may be some challenges, but we have printed out pictures for them to see, we have watched videos of the area and just keep talking about how much fun we are going to have and how blessed we are to be offered this opportunity.
This is Jayse and Josiah. Jayse is our quiet and sassy 5 year old and Josiah is our wild spirited and loving 3 year old. Both Jayse and Josiah have different and same diagnosis and together it makes a mouthful!
Jayse has a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing disorder, chronic asthma, a blood platelet defect disorder which causes severe iron deficiency, anemia, and easy bleeding and bruising, and a heart murmur. Jayse loves all things car and truck related and wants to be a car mechanic or a military worker when he gets older!
Josiah is our 3 year old miracle child. He also has autism spectrum disorder and is currently non verbal and using language, ASL and a AAC device. He also has hypotonia in his legs and hind foot valgus deformity so he wears SMO braces. Josiah is also 1 out of ~400 people with a rare disease called Familial Cold Autoinflammatory Syndrome which causes life long mild to extreme health issues and he is on a daily biological injection to mild his symptoms and chronic pain. Josiah is our crazy, sour patch kid who loves to dance and sing to music.
It’s hard being a medical mom to two higher needs children when all you are doing is spending time at hospitals, therapy, and different appointments, you never get any time to spend together as a family.
We are so thankful for Beachview for giving us this experience and letting my kids have a amazing summer!
This is our daughter Caitlyn. She is 32 years old and has spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy, seizures, intellectual delays, diabetes, osteopenia, cortical blindness and has a feeding tube. She is non ambulatory and non verbal. She is dependent for all of her care. Caitlyn’s birth was complicated by a maternal/fetal bleed, which left her with a major loss of blood. She spent 10 days in the NICU and was discharged home on Mother’s Day. We were told by her neurologist that she would have significant medical issues and would be a burden to us for the rest of her life. He was right about the medical issues but so wrong about being a burden. Even through her medical issues Caitlyn has taught us how important the small things are in life. Her smile and her laugh tell us how happy she is.. She loves spending time with her family.
Caitlyn has had surgeries to correct her hip dysplasia and also rods put in her spine to correct her 90 degree scoliosis. She has had multiple broken bones in her legs due to her osteopenia. Recently the doctor found she has issues with her Vitamin K , Vitamin D, and copper resulting in monthly blood work and IV infusions to correct the deficiencies as needed. She is the strongest young lady I know.
Caitlyn’s favorite place is the beach! Although she cannot see the ocean she loves the sound of the waves and the screeching seagulls. She enjoys the feel of the boardwalk under her wheelchair and the ocean breeze in her face. We are so grateful to be offered this vacation from Beachview Dreams!
Jena
Amyah, Winnie & Jose
My name is Jena. I am 34 years old, a wife and mother to two beautiful girls. On my 31st birthday, I was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer known as Metaplastic. I began treatment immediately and was told I caught it at an early stage. Less than 1 year after original diagnosis, my cancer returned to my lung and I went back into treatment for stage 4 cancer. For almost two years now I have had numerous treatments as well as some progression. SBRT radiation, Cyberknife to my brain, lung surgery and even spent 4 months flying to Texas for a clinical trial. Because of the rare nature of my cancer, it has required us to travel for treatment constantly. There is nothing I love more than just being with my husband and my children. I cherish our time together & one of our favorite places to go together is the beach. When I found out I won this trip, I was beyond ecstatic and grateful. Thank you SO much from the bottom of our hearts. I am looking forward to relaxing with my family.
Our family has been taking care of our Amyah ever since her seizure when she was one yr old. The year was 2014.
We learned her care and it took us 6 months to learn everything we had to know about Amyah. We traveled with Amyah via Air ambulance and had to leave all our family back in Puerto Rico. We suffered greatly because to this day we don't have anyone close to us here. In 2016 my husband Jose Ortiz was diagnosed with Peritoneal Mesothelioma and had to have strong chemotherapy treatments. Jose wasn't feeling well at all and still took care of Amyah. We have been without a nurse ever since the pandemic in 2020 and have been trying to keep up with everything. We had some pretty tough times all throughout that pandemic and still to this day we have strict protocols. In 2023 I Mom was diagnosed with Stage 3 Cervical Cancer and i'm still under heavy surveillance. I had to have Chemotherapy and Radiation/ with 2 Brachytherapies. To this day my husband and I have been taking care of Amyah and still strong I thank God. We are both still in and out of appointments and this break means a lot to us. We really appreciate the Beachview family for this. Thank you for taking your time to bless us with the much needed break our family needs. My mother Glenda came from GA to help us and alleviate some of the work as we are there. Once again Thank You. Thank you!!!! This mom is writing in happy tears. We are the Strong team and we don't go down without a fight.
Wesley
My father Wesley was born November 6th, 1958. He worked for the railroad for 20 years, and 10 years as a truck driver. Before getting sick, my father loved to go fishing, ride his motorcycle, and hangout with friends. Tragically on December 10th of 2022, at 2pm in the afternoon we had got a call from his doctor stating he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Although it was a shock to everyone’s system, my dad jumped to hope and asked what he had to do in order to stick around. He has been on chemo ever since.
Along with cancer, my dad is a diabetic, has COPD and sleep apnea.
Almost everyday he talks about going to the beach with me and his granddaughter but with chemo, it’s always been hard to work around it.
We got a call from his chemo doctors saying he was nominated to take a week’s vacation to Ocean City, New Jersey and I saw a light shine in his eyes. Now, everyday since that one phone call, that’s all he talks about. All of the stuff he wants to bring and all of the activities he’d want to do with us.
We are thankful that we got out on the bottom floor because it’s been tough for him to walk upstairs since he’s been on chemo.
He’s always hanging onto hope everyday he wakes up. And he also gets stronger day by day!
We are over joyed about the opportunity that Beachview Dreams has given us. Thank you guys!
Antonio
My father has not taken a vacation since I was a young child. As a disabled veteran, he continues to work part-time and lives on a limited budget. He also dedicates much of his time to caring for my mother. Despite his own medical conditions and recent heart bypass surgery, he continues to persevere. A vacation would provide him with a well-deserved opportunity to relax and enjoy some much-needed time at the beach.
Elijah
Elijah has been through so much these last few years. In 2021 he had rods placed in his back but also tragically lost his 22 month old sister who was his best buddy. He had rods placed in his back. He had his duodenal atresia repaired and his heart repaired as an infant. Both surgeries had complications which meant further surgeries. In Jan 2022 Eli started vomiting blood which resulted in many hospital stays and invasive procedures. He got a g tube, a cecostomy tube and had exploratory surgery with intent to repair the bowel obstruction. That surgeon was not able to do it but too proud to tell us that stating, “Eli has Down syndrome. He can just be tube fed forever” We were on the search and we were blessed to see Dr Arca in Rochester. She revised his gtube to a GJ tube which failed a few times. This meant many hospital stays because his belly could not hold food. He needed IV supplements. Finally, after months of letting his bowel heal he was ready for his LONG surgery. He had major bowel surgery which alllowed him to eat again!!! Then in March his teacher called and said he”spit up” what looked like coffee grounds. We knew we had to get him to Rochester. Once there they did all clinical testing and blood work. His clinical studies were normal though his blood work was off. He and dad stayed in the ER all night while I came back to Buffalo to be with our other 3 kids with special needs (all adopted including Eli). He was stable through the night and in the morning they were waiting for a room to open and were going to admit him with the “flu”. While I was on video chat with dad Eli started to look very sick and vomited blood again. They rushed him to ct scan and then to the OR, he was bleeding out and coded several times during that stay. One after surgery when his oxygen saturation went all the way down to 13%. So thankful he is on the mend and healthy. But boy, does this kiddo deserve a vacation!