Rick and Carly’s Kids: Audrina

This little lady from Meridian touched our hearts so deeply. Here is her story. 

"Rick and Carly's Kids" is designed to bring awareness of the unique struggles kids here in the Treasure Valley face. There usually isn't a support group for them and it's hard to find others that can truly relate to what they are battling. Most of them suffer in silence. We want to give them a voice and hopefully lighten their burden just a little bit. Audrina loves to perform, so we've hooked her up with a scholarship from "Drama Kids." They will also be providing some anti-bullying seminars at her school.

Here is the letter we received from Audrina's Mom.

Dear Rick and Carly, 

My sweet Audrina somehow got cluster warts on her poor little hands. They spread like wild fire and cover several of her fingers. We had spent the last 18 months trying over the counter medications, all natural home remedies, and going to the dermatologist. She has started getting injections in the warts to stimulate her immune system and we are using a compounding chemo medication to aid in stimulating her immune system to fight them off. Because of the location and number of them, freezing them off is not an option. It would destroy her little hands, and be beyond painful for her physically. 

In the meantime, she has had to deal with the emotional pain of having these warts. She is bullied at school and has had a really hard time with friends. She gets treated like she has the plague. I was notified by the school that they learned a group of girls created a club called "Hate Audrina." The school has been great in dealing with that side of things and putting a stop to the club, but it doesn't change how these kids treat her. She hasn't been invited to a Birthday Party in over two years. As her Mom, it breaks my heart to see her go through this. She has an older brother that is always being invited to friends to play or go to parties. When this happens, I can see it on her face how sad she is that it isn't her being invited. I try t take her to do special things to make up for it, but I can't always replace the youthfulness of what it means to have a good group of friends. We are very hopeful that between the injections and chemo medication, the cluster warts will go away. The doctor has indicated that it will likely take several months to a year or more to see any improvements. In the meantime, my little lady has to continue to deal with them and the impact they have on her self-esteem. It truly is so hard to watch Audrina being treated so terribly because of these cluster warts. I feel like she is missing out on so much and it breaks my heart for her! She is the sweetest, most caring, hard working, determined little lady I have ever seen. She is so strong!  When she had to have the injections, the Dr. warned us that it would be painful, but she didn't even bat an eye! She is one tough cookie and she deserves better that to have to go through this. Thank You for considering her!

Keesha