The Highest Hurdle Read online

  BIRTHDAYS

  She started the after-kid drop-off at school, birthday-breakfast, and spa-day birthday celebrations. If it was your birthday, we were celebrating whether you wanted to or not. If you didn’t want to celebrate, then you were surprised. Sorry, no choice in the matter. MaryFran was celebrating that you were born and that was that. There are a couple great little restaurants right by our little school that are prime gathering spots. Our favorites were The Bistro, which has since moved North of town and Julienne Tomatoes. Small gifts and funny cards were given and at The Bistro a silly birthday hat was sometime placed on your head. Of course, everyone had to sing! We enjoyed breakfast and everyone chipped in for the birthday girl. Spa days were another luxury. We would head off to Boyne Mountain for most of the day for a work-out, spa service and get lunch. It is a tradition that we of course continue in her honor to this day. We feel we must keep celebrating out of respect for MaryFran! It is a tough thing to keep doing but sacrifice we must!

  YOU’RE INVITED—YOU CAN SAY NO, BUT YOU WON’T…

  One of the things MaryFran is famous for was her direct-sales parties. Over the years, she sold Discovery Toys, Arbonne, Madison Handbags, and Mona V. She mainly did this to get out of the house after she had kids. It was a way to get other women together who basically needed a much-needed break from their kids and husbands. While perusing the catalogs, we would have drinks and appetizers and just talk, a lot of girl talk. The nights would always have much-needed laugh and everyone would go home refreshed and feeling great! After a while, we started teasing her that she was always trying to sell us stuff. She just liked having people over.

  HERSHEY BAR

  As a coach, MaryFran was very inspirational. She did not believe in tearing down girls but building them up. Every year she coached, she gave the girls a Hershey bar. She told them that they each represented a piece of the bar. If a piece was missing from the bar, the team would not be complete. If the team was not complete, they would not be able to compete as a team, which meant that each girl was very important to the team.

  ORGANIC COOKING CLUB

  MaryFran was organic before organic became the “in” thing to do. I didn’t really even know what organic was when I met her. I thought it was some hippy thing. I mean, it was the late 1990s. Who really cared then about eating pesticides? I just knew organic was expensive and hard to find in the grocery stores in Northern Michigan. Unless you went to this funky store where everyone had nose rings and dreadlocks. Sorry, not my scene, and it smelled weird in there with all the incense and stuff! The Grain Train has moved and it now looks like a normal grocery store—the kids still have nose rings and tattoos, but nowadays, who doesn’t? I have joined now and go there frequently. See how she worked her Jedi mind tricks? Anyways, she had this idea about an organic cooking club and she talked Julie from Julienne Tomatoes into helping her get it started. They started in 2006 and it is still going to this day. They got together and cooked a bunch of meals to freeze for their families. It makes it easier for busy families to have healthy options ready to thaw, as the work is done in one night. The ladies decided to donate meals to the Kolp family as their way to give back.

  LITTLE HOUSE, THE WALTONS, HALLMARK AND NCAA BASKETBALL

  What do they all have in common? MaryFran loved to watch them. I used to tease her about watching them. She couldn’t wait until Christmas, when the Hallmark channel would start airing all those sappy shows where you always knew they would have happy endings. I asked her one time how she could watch them when it was so easy to figure out what was going to happen, and the acting was mediocre. She said she just couldn’t stand watching all those reality television shows with no values or morality. Fran said at least these shows showed good values and taught a good lesson at the end. She would always put out a text around Christmas, inviting friends over to watch the Hallmark channel Christmas shows.

  Little House was probably her favorite show. I remember stopping over one time and she was crying. I asked her if anything was wrong and she said, sheepishly, that she almost always cried at the end of Little House. She loved that show. She loved that the families loved each other and that there was always a good moral to each episode.

  I think the only other thing she loved to watch more was the Detroit Tigers and NCAA basketball. Look out during March madness. The Kolps were watching basketball and it didn’t matter who was playing. They knew all the teams and all the players. They are huge Michigan State Spartan fans.

  BAD NEWS

  Our circle of friends started to become concerned six months prior, when we noticed subtle changes. Sometimes MaryFran’s speech would be a little slurred, which had several people asking if she had been drinking. One day she asked Deanna if she noticed if her speech sounded funny to her. She also noticed that sometimes she was having difficulties walking. Then there were the muscle twitches. She was a very strong-willed woman and was blowing off our concerns. Her husband Andy is an Emergency Room Physician as is his brother-in-law, and they were trying to get her to go get some testing done. She was in the middle of helping with our children’s school auction and was just chalking it up to being tired and stressed. Finally, after the auction was over, several of her close friends got together and we knew we had to force the issue on her. I was designated the person to do the intervention as she seemed to listen to me better. I decided on sending a text because it would be “in her face” and she would have to read it. We had always been rather blunt with each other, more like sisters, so I knew if she got mad it would blow over quickly. I did not save the original text, but it went something like this:

  Hi Fran, several of us are very concerned about your health. You can tell me go to hell, but I need to tell you this. I know if I were to talk to you, you would blow me off, so I am making you read this. I think you need to go to a neurologist and have some testing done. You need an EMG, muscle biopsy, and some basic neurological testing. I would not be telling you this if I didn’t love you!

  My friend Deanna and I, during a telephone conversation, decided to get online and do a differential diagnosis. We felt that based on her symptoms and our research she could have Lyme, multiple sclerosis, or ALS. Luckily, or not so lucky, my text worked, and she went and got tested.

  July 3, 2014 will be a life-changing date forever. It was not just my girlfriend’s forty-seventh birthday, but the day she received a devastating diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). I will never forget receiving the text she sent and where I was. All her friends were patiently waiting, hoping it would be multiple sclerosis or Lyme disease. Both not great diagnoses but better than ALS. This was also the summer of the ALS ice-bucket challenge. A weird coincidence, to be sure. This began her ALS journey. Everyone who knows her will instantly recognize her “voice.”

  PART 2

  ALS JOURNEY

  MaryFran decided she was not going to sit idly and let this disease ruin her life. She was known for grabbing the bull by the horns, jumping in, and tackling things. A friend told her about the CaringBridge app. This was a tool she could use for making journal entries and keeping friends and family up to date. Her first post was after her diagnosis. The first few entries were made by our friend Maggie Kromm. Maggie helped set up the app for MaryFran and would post for her until she had time to give her a tutorial on how to use the app.

  Fourth of July Announcement

  July 28, 2014

  Posted by Maggie Kromm

  MaryFran’s announcement: Hello! Happy 4th and many blessings to all of you! Well here it is I have been surrounded by great friends and family this holiday season!!!! I in the midst was given some challenging news. I have ALS. I am going onto treatment and second opinions and Eastern and Western medicine. I am not in pain. Just a little shock and I talk funny! I ask for prayers which I know all of you will give me. Many of you are surrounded by loved ones, enjoy every moment! I have the best spouse EVER and best family and friends! I’ll be talking with all of you soon but honestly coul
dn’t decide who to call first. My kids know and are just starting to understand. Love y’all. xxoo

  July 30, 2014

  Journal entry by Maggie Kromm

  (For MaryFran)

  Hi Friends! I had my meeting with Dr. Perlmutter, a specialist in neurological disease disorders today and it appears the original diagnosis may be correct! Nevertheless, I have been put on all kinds of natural supplements, shots, injections … all natural of course and yes, I’m still walking!!! I have a bunch of reading to do and I’m excited to move forward with my life! Who would have thought that my doctorate would come in handy for my own personal case! Although, the outcome for this disease can look grim I always like to defy the odds! No, there is not a specific cause for ALS, therefore there are lot of areas that can contribute to this disease and I’m looking forward to tackling each of them one at a time! Don’t be sad or surprised, after all this is what I do! The motto I live by is whatever it takes! And that’s what I will do! Keep the prayers coming! I feel an inner sense of peace and I know many of you are praying for me and my family! I am here to do God’s work! And this happens to be part of it! My kids are God’s kids! I have been blessed with the best husband ever!! Awesome over the top friends and family… and what a blessed supportive community we live in! I have candles lit in churches burning for me that I’ve never visited! What else is there? For those given much, much will be asked! I’m up for the task! Now pull up your bootstraps and get on to business! It’s a beautiful day and after all isn’t one day at a time all we each get? Hugs to all of you!

  I was at a loss. I mean, what do you do when your friend is given a death sentence? On my trip to Europe, I decided to light a candle in every church that I visited and say a prayer for MaryFran. This was not something I would normally do and was outside of my comfort zone, but I thought I was willing to do “whatever it takes” to help. I told myself that I was going to be strong for her and that I would not cry in front of her.

  Treatment update

  August 5, 2014

  By Maggie Kromm - 3 years ago

  MaryFran is down state having started hyperbaric treatments. She writes about the treatment: Good! Very interesting process so here I am at the hyperbaric center in South Lyon. As I get to be relaxed for an hour and 20 minutes while oxygen is infused into my system and finally get to watch Downtown Abbey!!! I’m through the first series! It’s relaxing. I’ll be doing treatments twice a day for 14 days! Interesting my symptoms are being more refined. All upper body, very minimal lower. Results between EMG at home and at U of M very different. Neurologist at U of M perplexed. U of M is doing a spinal and more blood tests on me next week. I’ll keep u posted! Looks as if all my supplements are helping me? Hugs!

  Hyperbaric treatments are when they put you in a special “cylinder” chamber for a certain amount of time and you receive increased amounts of oxygen. Some of the benefits are supposed to be:

  Boosts supply of circulating stem cells, promote growth of new capillaries and blood vessels, boost efficacy of chemotherapy drugs, 77 percent increase in survival rates of patients with metastatic cancer when combined with the ketogenic diet, promote new nerve growth in the brain, reduce radiation-induced information and tissue and bones, stimulates oxygenation, and supports faster wound healing.

  Letter from a young poet

  August 7, 2014

  By Maggie Kromm - 3 years ago

  The following is one of MaryFran’s favorites: Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answers. Rainer Maria Rilke

  Bravelets

  August18, 2014

  By Maggie Kromm - 3 years ago

  Please follow the link below to purchase a Bravelet item. $10 from each sale will go towards medical expenses for MaryFran. https://bravelets.com/bravepage/whatever-it-takes-for-maryfran-peterlin-kolp

  MaryFran has always used the phrase “Whatever it Takes” in her support of our community. She has been active in coaching volleyball and basketball, raising funds for the St. Francis Xavier School and supporting Petoskey Athletics and our medical community. Recently, she has been given a health challenge and now it is our time to do “Whatever it Takes” to support her.

  End of summer update

  September 2, 2014

  By Maggie Kromm - 3 years ago

  From MaryFran:

  Hello everyone! Here is a MaryFran update! First of all, I want to thank everyone for their participation or their thoughts and prayers and funds for the ALS ice bucket challenges! Businesses, families, kids and teens! They have been hilarious! And fun to watch despite the concerning situation! I can’t believe over 95 million dollars have already been raised towards the research toward a cause and a cure! This past weekend we were part of a great fundraising effort put on by the Northern Michigan Emergency Department it was a very touching event! As for what’s going on for now with the Kolps were looking forward to a great start to a great school year! I will be heading downstate for additional hyperbaric treatments for the remainder of the week but will be back this coming weekend! In addition, most of my additional testing and follow-up appointments and results should be completed and we will officially be able to start moving forward! I’ll keep all of you posted thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers!

  Journal entry by Maggie Kromm — 9/15/2014

  Hi friends of MaryFran. Please check out the PLANNER tab on this website to sign up for weekly dinners. These meals have no dietary restrictions and will be for Andy, Danny, Megan and the occasional parent or in-law. Please pick up basket and empty dishes from the SFX school office on Mondays and return the basket with food on Thursday afternoons by 3 p.m. The meals will be very much appreciated! Thank you.

  In the beginning, people would bring meals to help. Maggie was able to set up a calendar of sorts on the Caring Bridge website. It was easier than having people contact the family constantly.

  Fall update

  October 1, 2014

  By Maggie Kromm - 3 years ago

  I’m downstate today and having more hyperbaric treatments that will keep me at a deeper pressure longer. I hope to get some of these treatments at McLaren soon too!

  I also want to update you, I’m doing pretty well. Good days and bad moments. I’ve made it a mission to try to help others in our area with ALS. I have personally been in contact with the fantastic personnel at the Community Foundation in Petoskey. They used to be directly affiliated with Northern Michigan Hospital, I believe. Now we are attempting to work with McLaren in assisting patients with ALS affordable healthcare options. This will be happening soon with great support and assistance from: Shelly Budnick, Dr. Carin Nielsen, Moon Seagren, Marcia Spiegel, Maggie Kromm, Kim Wroblewski, and Deanna Beaudoin. Sorry if I missed any other instrumental names in this adventure. I am deeply touched to find out the ALS fund through the Community foundation will be named in my honor. This fund will benefit other individuals along with myself to help offset the financial cost of this disease, whether it’s supplements, HBOT treatments or other medical costs associated with this disease. Specifics are being worked out now. This pleases me beyond words! As all of you know I wanted more than just me to benefit from HBOT and hyperbaric chambers. I will keep you informed on upcoming fund-raisers for this fund. Tentatively there may be a bowling fund-raiser at Northern Lights on October 17th. For more information please contact Kim Wroblewski or Deanna Beaudoin as, Medical Society Alliance members, they are doing this to raise awareness, help pay for my treatments and the community foundation fund.

  Also, some of you may have heard, we sold our house! We’re excited and renting first while planning next steps. Possibly building! And yes, I will be planning on having a hyperbaric chamber built in! What an awesome therapy
! I’ll keep all of you posted! God’s not done with me yet, maybe once in a house I can begin the novel of this journey?

  I pray all of you and your families are well! I will be with you in spirit! Hugs, MaryFran

  Fundraising update from Kim

  October 1, 2014

  By Maggie Kromm - 3 years ago

  Here is an update on the bowling fund-raiser. It will be October 17th from 6 to 9 pm. There is going to be a fund set up at McLaren Northern Michigan hospital foundation in MaryFran’s name. It will be finalized this week. We are looking for people to sponsor a lane the night of the fund-raiser. $500 sponsorship will get you bowling for six people and advertising. If we don’t sell all the lanes, then we will open bowling up for other people at a certain cost. People can also come for a cost just to have pizza and pop. We will also have a 50-50 raffle, mystery games, some door prizes and possible silent auction items. We already have a couple donors for silent or door prize items. All the money in the fund will go to people suffering from ALS as per MaryFran’s request. This is how she wanted it. The foundation will help pay her costs except for medication. She wants to help the other lady in the area who also has ALS.

  Fran update

  October 11, 2014

  By MaryFran Kolp - 3 years ago

  I’m so honored and so blessed for all of the prayers …they truly have carried me…the friendships and family all you angels doing God’s work, meals, setting up fundraising for the cause and helping with watching my kids. As many of you know we sold our house and are renting from our very generous friends thx Rawsons until we find something we like closer to town. As some of you may know, I have been down state this past week getting hyperbaric treatment again. They are very helpful for me. I pray all of you have a wonderful fall season! I’ll be in touch soon if we don’t see you at the ALS fund-raiser at the bowling alley this coming Friday!