For most people, family is the first group of people we know and trust. Newborn babies know their mothers by sound. Kids instinctively look to the people they trust for social cues. In a lot of cases, this tight circle is the family into which a child is born. In other cases, family is created over time with friends and neighbors who love and support one another like any family. 

Maggie, with her mom, Jennifer, at the Foundation's Boston Walk for Victory in June.

As anyone with a rare disease will tell you, the health journey is extremely nuanced and complex.  It’s difficult enough having to deal with the symptoms themselves, but managing one’s care makes it that much more challenging.

Ashley Burks was 23 when her life changed. That year, 2005, she excitedly attended the Marfan Foundation’s Annual Conference in St. Louis. Upon arrival she was overwhelmed with emotion—for the first time in her life she saw other women who looked like her! Lean and lanky with long faces like hers, they looked like family. And as she got to know them, she was overjoyed that they had Marfan syndrome like she did, and they understood what she had gone through in her life.

The month of February is extra important to me as it marks the month of the heart. I have been living with Marfan syndrome for 30 years; however, I’ve only been diagnosed for 22 years. I try every day to share my story and knowledge about the condition. The more we speak up, the more people we can be helping. Here is my story.

A Marfan or related disorder diagnosis can be elusive for an athlete, particularly an athlete who does not display the typical cluster of characteristics.