Student makes connectionsBy ERIN KELAHAN-For the FrontiersmanMAT-SU Ñ Leanne Whitmore is in many ways like any other 16-year-old girl. She is working on learning to drive, just got her first job and is entering her junior year at Colony High…
Student makes connectionsBy ERIN KELAHAN-For the FrontiersmanMAT-SU Ñ Leanne Whitmore is in many ways like any other 16-year-old girl. She is working on learning to drive, just got her first job and is entering her junior year at Colony High School.In some ways, however, Leanne is unlike others her age. Leanne has osteogenesis imperfecta, otherwise known as OI. Two of the main characteristics of OI are brittle bones and short stature Ñ Leanne is 3 feet tall. Leanne was diagnosed with OI between 24 and 48 hours after she was born. Doctors at Providence Alaska Medical Center recognized the three broken bones and blue sclera (or tinting of the whites of the eyes) as symptoms of OI. They informed her parents, Beth and Paul Whitmore, and told them about the OI Foundation.Leanne attended Pioneer Peak Elementary School starting at the age of 4, in its pre-school program, and attended the school all the way through sixth grade.From there she moved on to Colony Middle School, and is now in her junior year at Colony High. She has suffered more than 55 fractures in her lifetime, most of them occurring in her arms and legs. Leanne enjoys walking her dog, Rascal, which she does by attaching his leash to the front of her power wheelchair. She is also a member of the Colony High swim team, and during the off-season she can be found at the Palmer pool at least once a week during evening-lap swims. ÒSwimming is something I can do and it presents a challenge which I enjoy,Ó Leanne said. When Leanne is not swimming she can be found making movies with her digital video camera. ÒAfter college I would like to go into movie producing if I can,Ó Leanne said.One college she is considering is Wright State University in Ohio. ÒThey have good courses and are very accessible, as far as I have heard,Ó Leanne said.This year, Leanne, along with her mother, attended the National OI Conference in Dallas. People attend the conference from all over the world. There were people at the latest conference from Japan, China and even Iceland, not to mention Alaska and almost every other state in the U.S. While Leanne may stand out in a crowd, such as the ones at the Alaska State Fair, at the conference she was in the majority rather than the minority.The conference covered all kinds of topics Ñ from adaptive living to medical research. There were also peer-to-peer groups for adults with mild OI, spouses of people with OI and teens with OI. The conference gave teens like Leanne a chance to talk to others with OI who are a little older and have already experienced things like adapting a car for driving, finding a first job, college and moving on to independent living. Another opportunity the conference offered was a chance to talk to doctors who are conducting research on OI Ñ looking for its causes and possible cures. So far, not much progress has been made in finding a cure, but some things help reduce the incidence of fractures and the chronic bone pain caused by microfractures. Leanne, until recently, was receiving infusions of bisphosphonate Pamidronate. Pamidronate is an IV-infused drug that helps prevent fractures from occurring and reduces bone pain. Leanne was receiving Pamidronate once every 16 weeks, for three days in a row. While at the conference, doctors conducting research on Pamidronate told Leanne and Beth that after someone has been on the drug for five years, the time it takes for their fractures to heal increases, and they should be taken off the drug for a year or so. Aside from finding out about the latest research and technology available, the thing Leanne enjoys most about the conferences is a sense of camaraderie.Leanne said she still keeps in contact with many friends she made at previous conferences.ÒThe best part of the conference is seeing friends I made at the previous conferences, and meeting new people,Ó Leanne said.
