The Wedig Family
On March 21, 2013, John Wedig had brain surgery. The next day, he was told he had melanoma. John and his wife Diane struggled to grasp the situation themselves, let alone explain it to their teenage daughter, Brooke. John and Diane had each lost a father to pancreatic cancer when they were young, and they knew their daughter needed to talk to someone. After a nurse recommended Wonders & Worries, Diane contacted Program Director Kim Fryar.
Brooke admired Child Life Specialist Lexi Wilkinson from the day they met and trusted her with her deepest concerns. Lexi imparted to Brooke a sense of calm and a greater understanding of her father’s illness. Though it saddened John and Diane to watch their daughter grow up so quickly, they were proud of the young woman Lexi was helping her to become.
It may not be today or even tomorrow. But sometime in your life you will know a family who will need Wonders & Worries.
Two and a half years later, John had another scare when he started having difficulty reading. He underwent a second brain surgery and fortunately, the results were negative for cancer. Instead the swelling on his brain was necrosis, a result of the radiation treatment he had endured in 2013. During this time, the Wedig family turned to Lexi. “Once again, Wonders and Worries gave my daughter a solid foundation of comfort and understanding to deal with the second brain surgery,” Diane says.
Today Brooke is 16, driving, and thriving! She is Sophomore Class President at McNeil High School this year and will be starting ACC classes this summer. The Wedigs are forever grateful for the guidance and friendship of Lexi and Wonders & Worries, and they want to spread the word about their services. “It may not be today or even tomorrow,” says Diane, “but sometime in your life you will know a family who will need Wonders & Worries. Their world will be a more beautiful and secure place because of Wonders & Worries.”