“So, how are they doing?” That is the most frequent question we get asked about our 2 boys (ages 7 and 10) who have been diagnosed with the fatal muscle wasting disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy. There is no easy or short answer to this question because they are both currently doing well, but yet they aren’t because their bodies are slowly deteriorating. Thankfully Duchenne life hasn’t hit them very hard yet and most of their days are just like other kids, with a few exceptions.

We love aquatic therapy and we love Swim Angelfish, a swim therapy program in our area. Our 4 year old son, Ned, has been a devoted "swimmer" for nearly 2 years. Not only is swimming wonderful exercise and a meaningful confidence builder, the angelfish team is exceptional.

Unlike traditional methods for developing therapeutics for common and (relatively) rare diseases, ultra-rare disease drug development requires a different approach and mechanism in light of a limited ability to commercialize and even reach BLA/NDA approval once clinical trials are complete....

When the boys were diagnosed with DMD we understood that we needed to find a new home...