Stephanie wants to share her feelings about having a brother who has NF. She is 15, and Oliver is 19.  Oliver was diagnosed with scoliosis at 5 and had to wear a Boston brace until age 13 when he had to have a 10-hr spinal fusion surgery at Stanford. Stephanie says…

“If I’m to be honest, at first, I was jealous of my brother. He got all the attention from my parents and his friends while I just watched. But then that jealousy turned into worry and fear over time as I saw his state worsen. I became scared that one day my brother wouldn’t be here with me. Over the years that I have lived with my brother, I have wished so many times that it was me instead of him who was suffering, because I couldn’t bear to see my brother like that. I remember when he got his surgery I had to stay home when my parents and him went to the hospital. I would stay up at night just hoping my brother would be ok. It is difficult to be a younger sister to someone with NF, it’s hard to watch them go through all that and know you can’t do anything to help, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”