Wendy Andersen: Changing Expectations for a Happy Life

Wendy Andersen shares powerful lessons and tips she learned about redefining normal after her son was diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis and autism. Wendy Andersen: Changing Expectations For A Happy LifeBioWendy Andersen is an accomplished author, speaker, coach, and mentor. She is a wife and the mother to three amazing children. Having a special needs child has taught her the critical importance of setting up her world to fit the current expectations of her family over those delivered by the expectations of others. For most of us, life does not go as planned. It certainly didn't for Wendy and her husband when, in less than 36 hours, their seemingly normal life was turned upside down when their oldest son Dexter was diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis complex epilepsy and then four years later with autism. Her experience created a deep desire to redefine what normal looks like in her own life and instilled in her a passion to help others redefine normal for themselves. She is passionate about spreading her message and encouraging families to break free of external expectations and instead find the balance in life. The Day Everything ChangedWendy Andersen had a relatively normal life before her son Dexter's diagnosis. She had been married to her husband for eight years before having Dexter. They loved being new parents. Then one day when Dexter was six months old, everything changed. Wendy was working and her husband was in school when Wendy got a call from her mother-in-law telling her that she needed to come home right away. Something was wrong with Dexter. Wendy got home and Dexter was napping, but when he woke up she saw exactly what her mother-in-law was talking about. Dexter's head would bob up and down and his left arm would straighten. Wendy knew right away that he was having seizures. Tuberous Sclerosis DiagnosisWendy called the pediatrician and they took Dexter to the office and were then sent onto the hospital. Within 36 hours, they had received a diagnosis. Dexter was having infantile spasms, a very debilitating type of seizure, as a result of tuberous sclerosis. Wendy and her husband didn't even know what that meant. Tuberous sclerosis is a very rare condition, with 1 in 6,000 children being diagnosed each year. Wendy says that she and her husband didn't allow themselves time to mope about the diagnosis though. They went right into survival mode, trying to find any and all information about Dexter's condition. The timing of his diagnosis couldn't have been better. Two months prior, the FDA had approved a new drug that could treat his condition and stop the seizures in just one dose. What is TSC?Tuberous sclerosis, or TSC, is a condition that causes non-cancerous tumors to develop throughout the body. Dexter had these growths in his brain, which were causing the seizures. Dexter also has them in his heart, called rhabdomyomas. Fortunately, the ones in his heart were not causing problems. In fact, they grow as a child, then shrink and go away. When Dexter was two and a half they discovered another type of tumor in his brain, called a sega. A sega will grow if it is not treated, so Wendy and her husband had two options: they could try a new medication and see if that would shrink the tumor, or they could have Dexter undergo brain surgery. If they didn't remove all of the tumor during surgery, the sega would grow back and they would have to try the medication anyway. So they opted to try the medication first. Within six months, the tumor had shrunk by half. Autism Diagnosis and Choosing to Stay PositiveDexter continued to grow and Wendy started to notice some signs of autism, but he did not display all the common symptoms. He had some delays in his speech, despite being able to understand what was said to him. Wendy worked with him on sign language, and he was able to recognize all of the letters of the alphabet at a young age. He struggled with sensitivity to noise, a common symptom of autism, but he has...