Straight Paths With Crooked Lines — Susanna VanVickle

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Susanna VanVickle is a Cajun girl who grew up traveling the world as a missionary kid. Today she is a wife, mom, and teacher in North Texas. In 2019 she and three of her five children were diagnosed with Fabry disease. Though the rare disease journey came as a complete surprise, the VanVickle family tries to see the bigger picture and how a straight path can be drawn with crooked lines. As a Bionews columnist, Susanna now shares bits and pieces of her family’s experience with Fabry, hoping to encourage others who are in the trenches of the rare disease struggle.

Columns

Finding my tribe at FSIG’s recent Fabry community get-together

I was met with warm and welcoming smiles when I walked into a boutique hotel near Dallas, Texas, for the recent Fabry Support & Information Group (FSIG) Get Together. There, I spotted a familiar face standing next to a display table. It was Nancy Ngotho, the senior patient education…

Susanna VanVickle

Columns

Nurses and patients work together to make home infusions successful

The two clinical sites where our kids began their enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) for Fabry disease were staffed by top-notch nurses. My kids enjoyed snacks and entertainment while skilled hands worked IVs into their veins. Making the decision to do home infusions was a natural choice, however. The…

Columns

Many Fabry families, including mine, benefit from Make-A-Wish

My twin sons, Anthony and Michael, were diagnosed with Fabry disease at age 17. Anthony’s condition was identified by a dermatologist here in Texas who saw the cluster of angiokeratomas, or bumps, in his belly button and how they were spread across his torso and the rest of…

Columns

Enzyme replacement therapy days are smoother with these 3 steps

My five kids are different in oh so many ways, which was abundantly clear from the varied responses when three of them were diagnosed with Fabry disease. Anthony, 21, was introspective and curious when he learned about Fabry four years ago. He sought to learn as much as possible…

Columns

What those with Fabry disease understand about kindness

“Be Kind” is a popular slogan on T-shirts and wall art today. It’s a good message, but how do you foster the ability? I propose that Fabry disease patients, their family members, and their caregivers have much to teach the general population about kindness. The complexity of life with…

Columns

Enzyme replacement therapy for Fabry is a gift and a challenge

It was a typical school day for most 17-year-olds, but for my twin sons Michael and Anthony, there was nothing ordinary about Oct. 22, 2019. It was the first day of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) for both of them, to treat Fabry disease. The adventure ahead was unpredictable,…

Columns

How we discovered a rare case of my rare disease

I’m not sure which surprised me more — that my 75-year-old mother was open to the obnoxious process of spitting into a saliva sample for a second time, or that my dad might have the Fabry mutation that three of my children and I share. We recently learned about…

Columns

Our quest to find a doctor with experience treating Fabry disease

My first column for Fabry Disease News introduced readers to my family’s Fabry story. In it, I described the unexpected “crooked lines” of a summer trip that led to my twin teenage sons — Anthony and Michael — being diagnosed. As we evaded one storm — with…


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