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MaryJenner, a nurse with a creative heart, founded The Butterfly Pig after writing a children's book about embracing differences—a theme that would become central to her mission of transforming pediatric medical experiences through play. Her company creates realistic medical simulation tools that children can use with their favorite stuffed animals, helping them process everything from IV placements to ostomy care in a safe, empowering environment.

The power of these medical toys extends far beyond simple distraction. When children experience procedures as something happening to them, they often feel powerless and afraid. But when they can parallel process by caring for their own "patients," something remarkable happens—they begin to understand, cooperate, and even take pride in their medical journeys. Ashley shares how her daughter went from requiring restraint during stoma care to proudly showing her stoma to friends at school after playing with a doll that had the same equipment.

This transformation occurs because children naturally learn through play. By creating approximately 80 different realistic medical devices scaled for toys, The Butterfly Pig taps into children's innate processing mechanisms. Parents and healthcare providers report children who previously couldn't sit still during procedures becoming engaged participants when they have their own medical tools to work with. The benefits extend to siblings too, who develop understanding rather than fear when they can engage with medical equipment through play.

What began as a creative project has evolved into a movement that's changing how families experience healthcare. The Butterfly Pig has introduced a Wishful Wings program where supporters can purchase toys for families who need them, creating a community of care around children with medical needs. As Mary explains, each medical experience gives children "a different type of superpower" they can eventually use to help others, transforming challenges into strengths that shape who they become.

https://thebutterflypig.com/

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We kindly ask that you share this podcast with other families who might benefit from our insights and support. Additionally, please take a brief moment to leave a review on your preferred podcast platform, which helps us to reach as many families as possible who are navigating this challenging journey, so they can find our support circle and access the assistance they rightfully deserve. No one should walk this journey alone.

To get more personal support, connect with us directly at:
https://parentempowermentnetwork.org

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How do you hold on to hope when you know your child is dying—and there’s no diagnosis, no cure, and no roadmap forward?
Co-hosts, Ashlyn Thompson & Ashley Milbourne are joined by Dr. Tasha Faruqui—award-winning pediatrician, rare disease parent, and now debut author—who invites us into the heart of her story, which inspired her forthcoming memoir: Keep Your Head Up: A Mother’s Story of Chasing Joy in the Face of Grief, releasing September 16, 2025.

Dr. Faruqui's second daughter, Soraya, was born with a rare, undiagnosed condition that remains a mystery more than thirteen years later. Though trained in medicine, Tasha found herself unprepared for the emotional and existential weight of parenting a child with a limited life expectancy. What she searched for—but couldn’t find—was guidance through anticipatory grief: the complex, quiet mourning that begins long before loss. So, she wrote the book she needed—one that shines a compassionate and unflinching light on this often-overlooked experience faced by so many families.

Keep Your Head Up is not only a memoir—it’s a love letter to parents navigating the unthinkable. With honesty, warmth, and hard-earned wisdom, Dr. Faruqui offers a blueprint for how to keep living, loving, and even laughing in the midst of prolonged uncertainty. Through this conversation, she opens up about how she balances motherhood with medicine, why self-care is not selfish, and how her definition of hope shifted from curing her daughter to cherishing her—one beautiful, present moment at a time.

✨ Keep Your Head Up is available September 16, 2025. Pre-orders are available now on Amazon.
✨ 100% of proceeds will benefit organizations close to the Faruqui family’s heart.

This isn’t just a conversation—it’s a glimpse into the soul of a book that will change the way we think about parenting, medicine, and what it means to keep showing up with love. If you’ve ever faced the unknown, this is the episode—and the story—you didn’t know you needed.

Join her Instagram community (@thefaruqui5) for real-time insights, resilience, and inspiration!

We kindly ask that you share this podcast with other families who might benefit from our insights and support. Additionally, please take a brief moment to leave a review on your preferred podcast platform, which helps us to reach as many families as possible who are navigating this challenging journey, so they can find our support circle and access the assistance they rightfully deserve. No one should walk this journey alone.

To get more personal support, connect with us directly at:
https://parentempowermentnetwork.org

Facebook: Parent Empowerment Network
Instagram: ParentEmpowermentNetwork
Join the Parent Empowerment Network Community of Hope
Get your copy of She is Charlotte: A Mother’s Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Journey with Her Child with Medical Complexities by Emily K Whiting on Amazon

Send us a text, we want to hear from you!

As parents of children with complex medical needs, our hearts often ache with worry about our other children. Are they getting enough attention? Will they feel less important? Do they resent their sibling's conditions? These questions haunt us during late-night hospital stays and therapy appointments.

What we rarely discuss, though, is the remarkable beauty that emerges in these siblings' lives. Through heartwarming stories like seven-year-old Nora proudly telling her class about her sister's rare condition on Rare Disease Day, or Cole developing an extraordinary voice at a young age, we discover the gifts hidden within our challenging journeys.

Ashlyn & Ashley share their personal experiences raising both medically complex and typically developing children, revealing how these siblings develop profound empathy, advocacy skills, problem-solving abilities, and perspective far beyond their years. They discuss the importance of taking off what they call the "Sherlock Holmes hat" – that constant problem-solving mode parents develop – so that we parents can simply enjoy our children and create meaningful connections through small moments like car rides or special traditions.

Perhaps most striking is the resilience these children show. Despite hospital stays that separate families and the inevitable imbalance of attention, these siblings often demonstrate remarkable forgiveness, adaptability, and joy. They remind us that children have an extraordinary capacity to live in the moment and find happiness within challenging circumstances.

This conversation offers hope that while your family's path may look different than imagined, your children are developing unique strengths through challenges most families never face. Your "typical" children aren't just surviving this experience - with your love and attention to their needs, they're thriving in ways that will serve them throughout their lives.

Recommended Resources:

Supporting the Siblings with Wendy Plant, PhD - Excellent webinar for parents presented by Courageous Parents Network

Courageous Parents Network: Sibling Support

Child Life on Call: Supporting Siblings: How Child Life Specialists Can Help

We kindly ask that you share this podcast with other families who might benefit from our insights and support. Additionally, please take a brief moment to leave a review on your preferred podcast platform, which helps us to reach as many families as possible who are navigating this challenging journey, so they can find our support circle and access the assistance they rightfully deserve. No one should walk this journey alone.

To get more personal support, connect with us directly at:
https://parentempowermentnetwork.org

Facebook: Parent Empowerment Network
Instagram: ParentEmpowermentNetwork
Join the Parent Empowerment Network Community of Hope
Get your copy of She is Charlotte: A Mother’s Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Journey with Her Child with Medical Complexities by Emily K Whiting on Amazon