Mom: Eden Lord, Overland Park, Kan.
Nominated by: Jeff Lord, husband
My wife, Eden Lord, is truly an extraordinary individual. She is a mom, a stepmom, a wife, a daughter, a teacher, and a small business owner. To say she juggles things does not give justice to what she must do in the course of a day. She runs her small business from home while shuttling kids to and from school, after school activities, shopping for the home and caring for aging parents, in addition to the household chores that have to be done. Her energy and drive make the normal person exhausted just watching her go. She has an amazing ability to bounce back from the situations that seem to have impossible solutions and keeps on running, often without skipping a beat.
A mother of three energetic kids (and four older stepkids), she demonstrates her passion and love by participating in every possible kid activity she can and taking on opportunities that a lot of parents simply let pass. She is an advocate for our 5 year old daughter who has a chronic condition known as Panhypopituitarism or Panhypopit for short. Complications from this condition, if not managed closely, can be fatal. Since our daughter’s diagnosis, Eden has become a voice for the chronically ill child. In April of this year, she appeared before the Emergency Management Services Board of Kansas to petition for protocol changes and medications to be added to the emergency vehicles that could save our daughter’s life and the lives of others like her. She proactively reached out to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD, and successfully campaigned for a new protocol to be established to study our daughter’s condition. She is a trooper and even when she gets knocked down, she always gets back up.
You see 2013 was an exceptionally rough year for my wife. We had suffered a miscarriage in 2009 and wanted to continue building our family. She began the New Year pregnant with our 5th child, only to lose the baby a few weeks into the year. A few months later with excited anticipation, she was pregnant again and went through every possible test to make sure nothing was wrong with the new little one. Everything came back fine, and she passed the critical first trimester mark with flying colors. On July 25, the news came in the ultrasound room that our sixth little one – our second son – had passed away. It was devastating. Yet Eden somehow pulled herself up because another challenge faced her just a few weeks away. Her dad would pass away on September 2 after a hard fought battle with several medical conditions.
People deal with tragedy in a variety of ways. Some fall apart, while others concentrate and become determined to move forward. For my wife, the latter was the case. She had felt for some time that there was a lack of proper medical tracking tools for parents to use when monitoring their children’s health. Inspired by her father’s passing and our daughter’s chronically ill condition, she boldly launched a new company called My Med Buddy that offers support for parents and provides tools to help with tracking of their little ones’ health. I have witnessed her passion as she burns the late night oil putting together materials and products that will help other parents in times of struggle and need. Her desire to help others feel prepared and not feel alone while facing some of life’s greatest challenges and tragedies is inspiring.
If you meet my wife, you will remember her because of her smile, her clarity of life, and her enthusiasm in whatever task she is working on at the time. If you get to know her you will be overwhelmed by her passion and love she has for her family and the desire to help others who are faced what seems an impossible task of caring for a chronically ill child. She is my champion, my hero, my love, and my wife.
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