Mariana Elchert (00:59)
Absolutely. It ⁓ is basically explained as an inherited bone growth disorder. ⁓ It’s a very generic term because there so many different versions of like achondroplasia, et cetera. Mine didn’t really come until I was maybe 14 when they kind of just said, OK, well, we haven’t really decided what you are. So we kind of fit in this broad category.

Brandi Lewis (01:27)
From what I know, was it at birth? Am I right? Okay. Yeah. So tell me a little bit about your mom and your dad’s story of figuring out that there was something wrong with you.

Mariana Elchert (01:30)
Literally at birth, yes.

Yeah, basically what it came down to was is ⁓ the day that I was born, there wasn’t really anything. And you have to remember this was 1990. So kind of like a dinosaur age of technology, not what we have now where you can see on an ultrasound, you know, something that would send a red flag or anything like that. ⁓ Back then it was you have a baby and then we kind of go from there. So ⁓ they didn’t even I don’t think there was even a warning of there being something

Brandi Lewis (01:57)
Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (02:08)
As an issue, I know that the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck during the actual, you know, procedure. ⁓ so my mom ended up having a C-section. ⁓ but with the, once I was delivered, they took me from my mom. ⁓ and she, they kind of painted this kind of grotesque picture in the sense of like, they were telling her things that could potentially be not well with me.

⁓ And so therefore, because of that, ⁓ she became very hysterical. And they took, they knocked her out, took me away, and she had not even laid eyes on me. So it was, I feel like it was almost a full day before they even had me in front of her. ⁓ And she said that it was just a very horrifying experience, especially when they finally did hand me over to her. ⁓ She just looked down and she said, I couldn’t see anything.

different than anything else, you know, like any other baby that I’d ever laid eyes on. ⁓ So it was, it’s a heartbreaking experience. I mean, my dad was very nervous. Like he, he had more of a full experience with me because he was able to, back then they would take you to like, I guess, a version of the Niku and then he would walk with you to the family to like see everybody. And like our whole family, I was the only girl, there’s 11 grandkids on one side and there’s four on the other. And I was the only girl on either side. So it was kind of like this, you know.

Brandi Lewis (03:05)
Well.

Mariana Elchert (03:33)
I’ve always been an anomaly is probably the best way to say it. So they were so excited and yeah, my dad said he walked with me like I was a football like he didn’t want to drop me. So it was good stuff. Yeah, so.

Brandi Lewis (03:36)
Yeah.

⁓ that’s so

awesome. I bet that’s heartbreaking though for your parents to not really be able to see you and to be taken away so quickly. How would you say that pseudo-controplasia played on your childhood? When did you kind of figure out that there was something wrong with you then?

Mariana Elchert (04:02)
It was very early

on. ⁓ I think the youngest memory that really stands out to me, I must have been probably six, five or six. I remember going to ⁓ a place like, I think it was maybe Kmart at the time. And we were checking out and the adult at the register spoke ill and said something about what’s wrong with her and just pointed at me and stared and had this kind of

look of, you know, disgust. And my dad, I remember being a child thinking, this is odd, you know, and feeling like I was out of place all of a sudden. And looking at my dad and him going like, you know, just being very angry in that moment. ⁓ And I don’t recall what he said. I know he had a retort at the time because that was not necessary. So I remember that probably being the first time that I really

⁓ experienced something that was negative with the way that I was. And I was just tiny. I was a little bitty child. That’s all. wasn’t, you know, there wasn’t any other markers, if you could call it that. So.

Brandi Lewis (05:14)
Yeah. Wow. It’s so crazy that you say that because it makes me think to how people’s words and the impact of their words can stay with you, even when you’re a child. And you don’t probably think anything’s wrong with you until you hear that.

Mariana Elchert (05:25)
Yes.

I think that’s probably the biggest negative of all of it is that I think any child that has any type of anything, ⁓ and I don’t even like to use the word ⁓ normal because to me it has a weird, like what is normal? You know what I mean? Like I feel like it’s almost average. What is average? That’s probably the best way to state it, but ⁓ it strips children of their innocence. You go from being this happy-go-lucky child that is experiencing life

Brandi Lewis (05:45)
Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (05:59)
to a child that feels like they’re not, they don’t belong or they don’t have a place. And it’s sad, it’s very sad.

Brandi Lewis (06:06)
Yeah. Did you have those lonely thoughts or feelings when you were a child? Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (06:11)
A lot. A

lot. ⁓ It played off of me in a way of. I had a very happy childhood. I will state that in the very beginning, because a lot of these questions are going to play into what could be perceived as negative in general. ⁓ But at I had a wonderful childhood, but there were times. I would retreat, and that’s always kind of been my nature. I retreat and I withdraw. ⁓ Whereas.

I didn’t really know how to communicate it. ⁓ It would come out in ways of anger and aggression at home and in public. was an absolute angel. I knew I had to be and I knew that home was a safe space, but I didn’t know how to explain that to my family. ⁓ And not to their, you know, it wasn’t their fault that they didn’t know to ask those questions. And I feel like as a parent now, you know, it makes me aware of like, okay, if I see

Brandi Lewis (06:43)
Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (07:09)
Like, for example, my youngest son is a little bit too young right now for me to have those types of feelings that he might be a certain type, like having those experiences at school. But the oldest one, I can tell, you know, when days come about that something’s not quite right. It’s like, OK, well, let’s stop and let’s talk about this. Let’s speak. What is happening? And so that we can walk through it together and not be alone and not retreat and not feel like the world is coming to an end. So.

Brandi Lewis (07:37)
Yeah, it

kind of sounds like you didn’t know how to express those emotions. You didn’t really know what they were in order to express them. I mean, and being a child with health issues, that in itself is hard. mean, and me and you have talked over the phone where I’m like, we can totally identify in so many ways. Because I mean, I was 19 when I was diagnosed, but being so young, you grow up so quickly in life. feel like I had to grow up so quickly in life. And I matured so quickly.

Would you say the same for you? Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (08:08)
Absolutely. I think

that and you probably can touch on this, that it’s something that it does grow you up very quickly. It defines your personality in lot of ways, for good and for bad. ⁓ I felt like just because of my diagnosis that it was a situation that I was already a strong-willed child, ⁓ but it was motivation in a positive way. But you kind of become more ⁓

Brandi Lewis (08:18)
Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (08:37)
how do I explain this more of like a it filters how you are as far as you want to be a little bit more bold and fatigue people are typically feisty by nature. ⁓ So I can definitely attest to that. But I think it definitely contorted my personality a little bit in the way that I ⁓ feel and perceive things even as an adult.

Brandi Lewis (09:01)
Yeah. Take us back to those days in the hospital, just to give listeners a little bit of overview. How was it growing up? Were you in and out of the hospital? Were you there a little bit? Like, how was that?

Mariana Elchert (09:15)
I think over the course of my life, I’ve probably had, let’s see, 15 or 16 surgeries. ⁓ The first one, I was probably 10 or 11. That was to address the curvature of my legs. It was very bow-legged. ⁓ And so that would allow me to have less pain in my legs as I grew in my joints. ⁓ I was also on growth hormone shots. It was predicted that I would be four or five fully grown with pseudochondroplasia. And so,

basically the humerus and the femur were not going to extend the entire way that they should. It’s a one in a million shot. I’m the only one in my family that has it. granted our ethnicity, we’re Italian, so we’re kind of a smaller people. ⁓ But ⁓ my grandmother, fully grown, was 4’11”, so she was a little bitty lady as well. But ⁓ yeah, fully grown, I would have been 4’5″, but I had ⁓ growth hormone shots when I was seven.

I did the math and there was like over 2000 worth of shots over the course of seven years. Yeah. And then when you get to like puberty, then you have to have something like a Lupron shot is what it was called once a month and it helps to slow that process down. So there was a lot going on at that time. Um, but I had that first procedure. I was doing the shots. Um, and then when I turned 15 is when I actually had the big surgery, which was bone lengthening.

Brandi Lewis (10:19)
Bye.

Mariana Elchert (10:42)
I was the first one ever to have it done within two weeks of each other. And it was internal. So they’re called ISKD rods back in the day. And ⁓ at that point, what they do is they go in internally, not the actual cage that you see some patients do, ⁓ but they go internally, they break the bones and then they insert the rod and then the screws at the top and the bottom in order to hold it in place. And the physical rotation of the leg is what makes it extend.

And so because I had done that in two different weeks time, it was like juggling the invisible. You would have to get, you know, maybe the top femur to extend and, not the tibia and fibula area. So there was a lot that went into it. ⁓ You had to almost fight time as well, because at one point I had one of the bones grew back together quicker. And so when we were rotating my leg, it was literally re-breaking my leg.

Brandi Lewis (11:29)
Thanks

Mariana Elchert (11:42)
So there were lots of, it could be a horror story if we wanted to play it that way. ⁓ But it was a situation that would I go back and do it all over again? Absolutely. It changed my life. ⁓ I was six inches taller afterwards. I was in a wheelchair for roughly nine months. ⁓ And that was in my sophomore year that I was in a wheelchair at John Carroll here locally. ⁓

But yeah, it was intense. was the surgeries were 14 to 16 hours a piece. ⁓ So yeah, it was a lot. There’s a lot to recover from.

Brandi Lewis (12:18)
Wow, there’s so many questions I have from that. Take me, I mean, there’s so, you described it so well, I must say. You did a really good describing that and just kind of how it is. I mean, it makes me think back to, how was high school for you then? Like, how were those days, you know, being a sophomore in a wheelchair where your friends probably weren’t in wheelchairs and.

Mariana Elchert (12:21)
Bring them on, girl.

Brandi Lewis (12:43)
you’re in a different phase of life than it sounds like any other normal sophomore was in at that time.

Mariana Elchert (12:50)
It was a lot to take in. I will say at the time, the people that I was surrounded by, whether that was teachers, friends, other students, were so encouraging, kind, and helpful. And it was a good experience there. I definitely had to give up my love of my life at the time was soccer. I played varsity at John Carroll. Absolutely loved it. But even the team included me to where I was soccer manager, so I was able to do that.

and still be on the sidelines and support my teammates and everything like that. it was, and the friends that I had at John Carroll and some of which I still have to this day ⁓ were very helpful. They always wanted to make sure I had what I needed. ⁓ I think the hardest part about that exchange was the medication. Back then, the medication was the way. And nowadays when you hear

patients with this particular surgery, whether that’s for one leg or for both, those patients don’t have to take those types of drugs and things. I think I was on, I to say nine medications, Brandy, every single day, every four hours for nine months straight. And I ended up getting addicted to Valium, unfortunately. And so I had to come off of that. But a lot of that year, I hate to admit it, I don’t remember. The parts that I do,

⁓ or wonderful, but trying to read and study was a nightmare. We had to do summer reading and turn in a report. ⁓ And I’m literally mid-surgery doing this as, you ⁓ and I couldn’t, I don’t know how I passed that year, if I’m being honest, ⁓ other than the grace of God, that’s pretty much it, my parents.

Brandi Lewis (14:38)
Yeah. Tell me about how your

parents felt at that time, sophomore year, you know, in high school and their daughters having these 14, 15 hour surgeries. Were they, because my family has been on my podcast and it’s been so interesting to hear everybody else’s perspective while I was the one, you know, going through the surgeries in the hospital. Have y’all had those talks of like how they felt during that time?

Mariana Elchert (14:58)
Yes.

I think so we grazed it. ⁓ I think a lot of the time we don’t like to speak about it because it does bring back a lot of angst. I think that as a parent now, I can only imagine. ⁓ I can’t, I will tap into this later, but having watched them roll my son away for a surgery, that is probably

Brandi Lewis (15:07)
Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

Mariana Elchert (15:33)
It makes me sick to think about it. It’s awful. You don’t know what’s on the other side. You don’t know what’s about to happen. you can’t you have to literally release and go, I have to trust this person that they’re going to take care of the person that I love. And that is, it’s it’s hard. It’s very difficult. So for them, it I get mixed things every once in a while, something will bleed through. But

⁓ financially, it was horrible for my dad. He had to travel back and forth. He couldn’t even be with us during this process. He was in Birmingham. ⁓ so he would fly back and forth. And then my mom took the brunt of everything. She was there with us and she would have to take me to all the appointments and there was physical therapy every day. There were appointments for surgeries. There were things like that. And then my little brother was forced to grow up. We’re four years apart and I’m the oldest.

He was forced to grow up and witness a lot of things that, you know, a child like that should not have to experience. So, you know.

Brandi Lewis (16:35)
Yeah. Wow.

Yeah. A family definitely fully goes through anything when one of the immediate family members is dealing with a health crisis. Yeah. Definitely know that firsthand. That’s so hard. It is very hard. And it’s not always easy to talk about either from a family perspective. It definitely takes time. It took me and my family time to actually talk through some of the things that have happened and how they felt during that time.

Mariana Elchert (16:47)
yet.

Brandi Lewis (17:03)
It’s healing, but it’s not easy to do. I will say that for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I want to talk through the faith move too, because I can hear it already that this was a, your faith grew within this time. ⁓ Tell me a little bit about, or tell me about what happened faith wise for you, or when did you feel like this, you you gave it all to God or you surrendered it.

Mariana Elchert (17:06)
Yes, you know, absolutely.

We went to Catholic school my entire life. I was raised Catholic and still am to this day. ⁓ I felt like I had always gotten an education in that for the foundation of faith.

in that moment in time and granted my faith is different now than it even was when I had the surgery. At that time, I really thought that I had it all together. I really did. I felt very close to God. I felt like ⁓ I knew I had to, I just, had to trust him that he had the vision for my life and that that was the way. ⁓ I remember flying to Baltimore with my dad before the surgeries ever even started.

We had a meeting with ⁓ the surgeon that was going to do the surgery. And ⁓ I remember sitting there and I started crying and my dad looked at me and it was a weird kind of a cinematic moment where everything around us just went away. And the two people that were in the room were not with us in that moment. It was just me and my dad. And he said, you know, you don’t have to do this. And I said, no, dad, I know I do. I just I know I have to do this.

And I felt like it’s a odd sense of peace about it. I knew it was going to be hard. And you’re going to catch me get emotional here in a little bit. But I definitely even through the surgeries, even past the medication, ⁓ I knew that I needed to be diligent with my faith, but it increased after the fact. And I felt like I really had my life together for the first time. And so I guess at that moment and granted, I was.

15, 16 years old. I felt like I had a good sturdy foundation of faith and God was the only way that got me through that particular and it is true. mean, that’s the only way I could have. It’s an experience of a lifetime. ⁓ And with everything that happened, it was the only way, that’s for sure.

Brandi Lewis (19:29)
Yeah, earlier you said that if you had to do it all over again, you would do it. And that to me is just a faith, just a faith move there, just saying it. I always called everything I went through a blessing in disguise. And it’s something about the peace that you have when you’re going through something that you really don’t know what the outcome will be.

And you spoke to a little bit to that piece too, but I want to see Why did you say that you would do it all over again if you had to?

Mariana Elchert (20:01)
I feel like it opened so many doors in my life. It made me the person that I needed to be. ⁓ I was so limited in ways that I wouldn’t have been able to drive in a regular car. I wouldn’t have had the opportunities and the drive to do what I do now. ⁓ We have a company, my dad and I actually ⁓ started a company called ShoeLift Express.

And what it is is literally for patients who have one leg shorter than the other. And so we customize shoes. We take the shoe apart. We put the lift size that they need inside of the bottom of the shoe. And then we put it all back together, make sure it’s painted. And we have a wonderful team that is with us to be able to do that. But with that being said, ⁓ I meet patients all around the world that I never would have had the opportunity to meet. ⁓ I meet parents.

that are going through it with their child and I can understand and relate and you feel so much more. It’s the passion from that experience that I had at 15 that allows me to be empathetic and understanding and driven to want to make this company better every day. And because of that, you’re able to make one small impact of somebody’s life. And it’s just such a blessing and an honor to have

a part in their story, you know, and they’ve become now a part of my story as well. So I think because of that, it’s allowed me to have the passion to do what I do ⁓ and to be understanding.

Brandi Lewis (21:39)
Yeah.

How cool is it too that from what you went through, look at what you’re doing now. I mean, would you have ever thought that this would be what you’d be doing now?

Mariana Elchert (21:46)
Mm-hmm.

Not at all. was in, I was in the strength and conditioning program at the university of Alabama and, very grateful coach Diltz took a shot on me and she, ⁓ allowed me to be in her intern team. So it was like in the main, you know, strength and conditioning company where Nick Saban was and all of the biggest athletes. ⁓ and so, ⁓ I was very blessed in that. And so once I graduated, I ended up getting a job right out of college.

Brandi Lewis (21:52)
Yeah.

Cool. Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (22:20)
Um, and I was a group fitness and marketing coordinator, um, down the road and it was a fabulous job. Um, and God had a different plan. We ended up having a shift in management. And so I took a, a leave to say, you know, this isn’t right now, this is not for me. Um, because it started to become a process that made me a little bit. I, it was, there was such stress involved when that management shift changed. And sometimes I know there’s people that are watching this that can understand that once.

Management comes in sometimes they change things where they want people to leave on purpose so that they can start afresh. That’s kind of what happened in that scenario. And I’m grateful for that now because I see that God led me in the direction he needed me to be in. So when I took that leave, I ended up ⁓ hanging out with my dad for a while because he needed some help. He had a shift in his staff. And so I came to help with them. And then I found out I was pregnant.

And so ⁓ then I started, I think as most parents do, go, now what? Like, what am I going to do now? And so, ⁓ but it was a blessing. I was able to keep both of my kids, my dad even built a room in his facility to where I could keep my kids with me and have them. Yes. So it was like, you know, when they say it takes a village to raise a child, that’s what it was. And I was able to raise both of my boys before they started school. ⁓

Brandi Lewis (23:22)
Yeah. ⁓

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (23:46)
to have them with me. And it was like, but after basically what the, dad had been doing shoe lifts and my grandfather is actually a cobbler, ⁓ great grandfather, excuse me. ⁓ He was a cobbler. So it started off in, and you’ll find in any shoe lift world, the origin story always starts with a cobbler or a C-ped or something like that. So ⁓ because of that though, ⁓ we ended up having the situation where with it being what it was,

COVID struck and my dad’s biggest thing and you’ll probably if you can get him on a podcast, I’m hoping you can because he gets yes. Yes, he has a phenomenal story, but he gets a little bit nervous when he’s talking. So ⁓ but with that being said, COVID hit and he will always say through adversity comes growth. That’s his biggest like phrase. And so he contacted me like I had taken ⁓ went to have my second son and COVID hit right at that time.

Brandi Lewis (24:22)
Ears crossed.

Sorry.

Mariana Elchert (24:45)
And so the store had started to kind of get slow and we were able to maintain because he does custom orthotics as well. And so, um, he stayed open and he goes, I’m gonna pitch you an idea. And I was like, okay, let’s hear it. And so we spoke about it and he said, you know, we’ve been doing shoe lifts forever and everybody that needs a shoe lift, even when the world is shut down, still needs a shoe lift. And he said, we’ve been doing this for this long. have a great.

you know, following as far as here in Alabama goes, can you make a website? And I was like, let’s do it. Let’s figure this out. And from then till now, we have gone international. are worldwide at this point. And the amount of countries that we have been approached by and the individuals we have met and the clientele we have, I mean, we’ve served thousands upon thousands upon thousands of shoot lists at this point.

Brandi Lewis (25:27)
That is awesome.

Mariana Elchert (25:38)
And it is, it’s truly remarkable. The following that we have, the loyalty of the customers. It’s just, it’s amazing. It’s such a blessing.

Brandi Lewis (25:46)
Wow, that is so awesome. It’s like God has opened this door for y’all. It’s an idea and people talk about all the time how God gives us these ideas. And if we don’t flourish and do what we’re supposed to be, be obedient to that, then he gives it to the next person. It sounds like you guys took hold of that idea and truly made it to, I mean, look at this. You guys are helping so many people around the world, but also you’re able to relate to those people because

Mariana Elchert (25:47)
Yeah. ⁓

Brandi Lewis (26:15)
you’ve been in that same situation, similar situations as them. That is, wow, that’s awesome. Yeah, that is definitely a blessing. I do want to talk a little bit about just kind of like, we talked about this, like the mental health, the psychology side behind a diagnosis and ⁓ kind of how you felt around that time of being diagnosed with pseudo chondroplasia. ⁓

Mariana Elchert (26:18)
Absolutely. And it’s a blessing.

Brandi Lewis (26:43)
Like how was your self-esteem? How was that identity there? I think that’ll help a lot of people.

Mariana Elchert (26:49)
Yes, I think this is how I might get emotional here. So I’m going to try to collect myself as best I can. ⁓ Having. I think even I’m about to be 36 in May. Even now, I think this is a daily journey for me. I think up until last year, I really did not know what self-love was as far as being OK with just being you.

Brandi Lewis (26:53)
No.

Mariana Elchert (27:18)
⁓ And I think that that’s probably been the journey that I have had to really lean into as far as not. ⁓ I don’t know, I get affected by the way what I care too much about what other people think. And that’s an honest relationship to that diagnosis. ⁓ I feel like, and it’s vulnerable for me to say that, but.

⁓ Even now, it’s a journey every day that I have to untrain that out of my brain to go, God loves me, I love me, that’s good enough. And if I’m doing right by Him and my children and my husband and my family, then that has to be enough. And it doesn’t matter what anybody thinks. ⁓ At the end of the day, if I’m doing what’s right by Him, then I’m okay. ⁓ But yeah, I think as a child it was… ⁓

It was lonely at times. did have, and like I said, I had a wonderful childhood. I had great friends, one of which I’ve been friends with since I was a toddler. saw her today, actually. We did like a little Christmas thing for the kids. And she’s one of my very best friends. She stuck it out with me through every surgery, through everything. And she helped actually deliver my oldest son. Yeah, she’s a nurse. so, ⁓ but the people that I have in my life,

that have been the greatest advocates and cheerleaders, ⁓ those who have always inspired me to be more and do more. ⁓ But yeah, there were times that I definitely had a lot of self doubt. There were dark times where I had some thoughts that were not so great that I’m not proud of. There’s guilt that comes with the, because you’re diagnosed and because you, because I had that surgery, I felt very responsible and ⁓

I felt like I put a lot on my parents. It just, it’s not a fun thought, you know, it’s not fun to think about. Even with a sibling, my younger brother, like he went through so much and there’s guilt that comes with it. So I think a diagnosis is, it’s a hard pill to swallow. And so for the greater, the only recommendation I can give someone is to work through, like with the psychologist, can, because like,

Brandi Lewis (29:23)
Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (29:38)
with therapists, they call it an onion. You have to peel back the layers and you have to get to the root and you have to know how to deal with that root. And it doesn’t go away, but it can get better. But always knowing that there is tomorrow, that there is, and I tell my oldest son, Roman, every day is a reset button. It doesn’t matter what happened today. Let’s start fresh tomorrow and we’re going to work through it. And so if there’s always that hope and that positivity, I think that’s the biggest key.

Brandi Lewis (30:03)
Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (30:08)
with a diagnosis.

Brandi Lewis (30:08)
Yeah.

my gosh. Thank you so much for that honesty. I think a lot of people can relate. I for you, I would say from a self-love kind of perspective, it makes sense. You’ve had these surgeries so you can be taller. So maybe in your mind it’s, okay, I have to be fixed in order to be okay with me or to look okay or be normal in this world. That is…

To me, it makes sense. It makes sense to have to battle the self love and the, I’m okay with me. I’m okay who I am, how I show up in this world. Yeah, that makes so much sense. And I can say from my perspective of battling health issues, I wish I would have got therapy earlier, but I didn’t because I, you’re so.

Like you said, time is of the essence. So you’re rushing and you’re running and you’re just trying to survive every day. And the last thing on your mind is that therapy. And that is something that I wish I would have done as well, looking back, just because it’s a hard thing to go through health things as a child. And ⁓ you don’t fully understand it, but

I think a therapist would have helped me too. I definitely do. I think that would have helped me feel okay with me knowing that what I’m doing, it’s not a burden. I’m not a burden, but I felt the same way as you felt, feeling like a burden in the family. Everybody’s having to take care of me. I’m the sick child. Like having all of those feelings, the guilt. I have two sisters. And so yeah, that guilty feeling of feeling like, ⁓ you know, what they went through is partly because of me.

I honestly, I’m on the same train as you. I get it a thousand percent of where you are. But I think it’s so, what’s so beautiful about it is that your honesty of where you were at that time. I think that’s just beautiful because we all go through that, ⁓ but yours is very understandable. So don’t think it’s not, cause it’s, I understand why you’re battling it. Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (32:18)
I

think, you know, it’s one of those things to bring it. wasn’t always able to say that out loud. I don’t think I was able to acknowledge that till this last year. Even ⁓ I think with ⁓ I’m so grateful. So I found my very best friend is my husband and he has helped me. His family has helped me so much in acknowledging the fact that ⁓ just

They accept, they don’t have my past. So it’s nothing against my family. I love my family dearly. I sometimes they’re my biggest cheerleaders and biggest critics at the same time, like in a motivational type of way. They’ll say, Hey, like saying you’re like, you know, things like that to make sure that you’re on point, but they have my history, my family, that’s my husband’s family, which I called in my family. I don’t even call them my in-laws. ⁓ They see what they see now from the second thing met me till now.

Brandi Lewis (32:59)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yep.

Mariana Elchert (33:17)
in the present day and they love me for me. And they don’t, it’s such a welcoming feeling to not have somebody who looks at your past and holds it in any type of way. And it’s not, it’s very freeing and they have taught me so much and my husband too. He sees me from my heart, even if I can be very, sometimes I will get passionate about something.

And it might sound like I’m heated, but he knows he just sits there and he listens and he’s just, he’s there. And he is the, he’s the yin and yang situation where if I’m here, he’s here and vice versa. And we make such a great pairing for that reason. And I’m so honored that I was the one that God chose for him. he, ⁓ because he has a way of just bringing this unnatural calm over me.

Brandi Lewis (33:51)
Thank

Yeah.

Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (34:14)
which is so delightful in a life of chaos, ⁓ but to be seen, as of literally, he will listen, he processes, ⁓ but he has helped me so much to be able to say it out loud. ⁓ And we are a partnership that we work together to raise these two boys that we have. And without him and his guidance of, know, walking through these things, I don’t think that I would have been as prepared as I am.

And it is a journey. There’s no I remember watching your mom’s podcast with you and she said there’s no manual and she’s absolutely right. There’s no right or wrong. There’s no way you each child is very different. ⁓ This might apply to this one and this one is polar opposite. And it’s a learning curve. But I think that it has allowed us to work together really well so that we can hopefully. You know, give them the best that they can have.

Brandi Lewis (34:45)
Thank

Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (35:12)
make sure that they’re in a way to almost break cycles from the past to create this new loving family unit that just works,

Brandi Lewis (35:22)
How awesome is it too to have a family come in, your in-laws come in and they don’t, like you said, they don’t know your past and they see you for you. How freeing is that? Like how do you feel just to hear that from them and see it in their actions as well?

Mariana Elchert (35:34)
Absolutely.

I think some of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received are from my mother-in-law and father-in-law. And it’s bizarre that it’s that way, but it is because they just, they have a way about them that is just amazing. One of my very best friends is my sister-in-law. We go hang out together all the time and I don’t look at them as in-laws almost. It’s just a matter of, know, it’s just a perfect mesh of two families. And we all mingle really well together and it’s

I always promote, and I’ve said this to my sister-in-law so many times, it’s about the memories that we form together. We can’t take anything with us, you know, it doesn’t matter what we have or the blessings that are in our life, but building these memories together for our family that we can laugh about and have fun, but it’s remarkable to have them because they do bring such a joy to my life.

Brandi Lewis (36:39)
Yeah, it sounds like God placed them in your heart too and in your life for a reason. Being able to heal some of that childhood as well. That’s awesome. So I know we’ve talked that you have two boys, right? How old are they?

Mariana Elchert (36:44)
Definitely.

Yeah, absolutely.

Oldest is eight years old as of Thanksgiving Day, which is crazy. Yes, that’s Roman and the youngest is Liam. is four and a half.

Brandi Lewis (36:59)
No.

Nice, nice. And man, you’ve talked ⁓ also about another health scare you went through, but it was not for you on this time. It was for your youngest Liam, am I right? Yeah, tell us a little bit about what he went through.

Mariana Elchert (37:16)
Yes, that is correct. Yes, he was.

Yeah, absolutely. He was three months old ⁓ and we he was another one that we never saw anything coming. ⁓ I would call the two of us anomalies in a lot of ways. We have a lot of similarities in the medical aspect of like coming from left field. Neither one of us were expected to have anything and we both had something. ⁓

And I will say this, neither one of my children have any touch of pseudo chondroplasia. They’re, oldest is almost eye eye with me now, which is hilarious. ⁓ But with Liam, at three months old, he was with me. I had mentioned that my dad had a room to where I could be with my children and work at the same time. ⁓ But he was with me at work and my mom came to pick him up so that she could take him home and he could.

Brandi Lewis (37:52)
nice

Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (38:13)
You know, just rest at her house while I was finishing out my day. And when she came to pick him up, ⁓ she said, she called me by my middle name. She said, Rose, ⁓ his legs look like spotted. They’re kind of purple and this doesn’t look right. And I went, OK, that’s fine. ⁓ Let’s just kind of let’s play this easy and let’s give it about 10 minutes. And if it doesn’t change, we’re going to change his environment. We’ll walk around with him, get him some fresh air, see what happens. ⁓

If he still looks not quite right, what we’ll do is we’ll go up to the pediatrician’s office. It’s probably five minutes from our store. And so 10 minutes went by, didn’t get better. And so we got in two separate cars. She had Roman in her car and I had Liam in my car. And the thought was we would get there. They would go, okay, y’all are probably being, you know, over hypochondriacs at this point and everything’s fine. You can go.

Brandi Lewis (39:09)
Yeah, yeah.

Mariana Elchert (39:12)
And so I thought, okay, well, save her from having to drive me back to the store. So that was the initial thought that went into it. Didn’t go that way. ⁓ We got in the car. I got about two blocks down the road and I had to pull over because Liam like slumped. And so I got out of the car and I ran to him and ⁓ I got enough out of him that I thought, okay, well, maybe he just fell asleep.

So got back in the car and meanwhile, my mom’s following me. We got probably another four blocks down the road and Liam slumped over and stopped breathing.

Yeah. Yeah. And I got out of the car and Brandy, don’t know.

I can’t say that, ⁓ yeah, I cannot say that I even, I don’t remember much else from that. I remember hearing sirens. I remember freezing. It was a nightmare. ⁓ My mom conducted everything. My mom is on point. I owe everything to her on that one. ⁓

Brandi Lewis (40:10)
Oof.

Ugh.

Mariana Elchert (40:36)
I’m so grateful for the paramedics environment that showed up that day. ⁓ They got him going again and he was okay and they sent us to the Children’s Hospital. We got maybe a block away from Children’s Hospital and it’s the first anxiety attack I’ve ever had in my life. ⁓ I never experienced anything like that and you hear people speak about it. ⁓ But I couldn’t breathe. ⁓

Brandi Lewis (41:00)
Yeah, yeah.

Mariana Elchert (41:05)
And I literally I was hysterical. It was terrible. And so thank God my mom was there. They got us in an emergency room and we stayed. Liam and I because my husband had to work and he had my youngest son. I was by myself in my scrubs from work ⁓ and we stayed there for 48 hours under surveillance. ⁓ And they said it was called a brew and that stands for brief resolved unexplainable event.

Brandi Lewis (41:35)
Ugh, that doesn’t help.

Mariana Elchert (41:36)
And in one, no,

not at all. In one way, you don’t want to diagnose this for your child. And in another way, you don’t want to hear that we don’t know why this happened, because then you fear from that moment forward, this is this going to happen again? Is this going to be something that I and I became? Probably that’s probably the worst year of my life, I became very paranoid.

Brandi Lewis (41:47)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (42:03)
I had anxiety attacks that I could not explain. I spent a lot of time at the hospital with Liam. And the type of PTSD that that gave me, can’t explain. And it wasn’t about me, it just happened. You know, you can’t control what happens. ⁓ But I was so concerned that something would happen to him that I dropped the ball in many areas of my life because I was just focused on that.

And it was a lot. mean, we were literally in the middle of building a house. We were I mean, there were so many different things. My youngest or my oldest was about to start school. So there were so many life changes happening that it was just it was too much. It was too much all at once. But I have never. That’s the worst day of my life so far, and I pray that there’s I pray I can’t say that ever again. I don’t want to ever say that again.

Brandi Lewis (42:44)
Yeah.

my gosh.

Yeah, as a mom, I can only imagine, I can only imagine the feeling of what you went through that day and days after, like you said, we all pray that nothing ever happens to him again and that he is a healthy boy that’s going to grow up into an amazing man. But I know that has to be a heart.

Mariana Elchert (43:24)
So, maybe.

Brandi Lewis (43:28)
thing to deal with and something you never thought, would you say that, did you question God? Did you have those questions again? Like faith wise, where were you there?

Mariana Elchert (43:42)
I think that I had distanced myself from my faith. And not in a way that I wasn’t necessarily angry. was more. There was so much going on. There was so much going on. then it’s like within the course of his four years of life, he said other things that have come up. And so in that moment, in the very beginning, I was grateful that he was OK.

Brandi Lewis (43:45)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (44:11)
but I was also just stagnant in my faith and not in an angry, it’s hard to explain. But I just took a back seat and just needed time. And I’m not proud of that in any way, or form, but it was a very difficult period because then after that happened,

He ended up having a hemangioma right here on his eyebrow. So this giant egg on his head that we didn’t understand what happened there. He’s had a duct cyst removed from his throat that I found on accident. ⁓ And then he ended up with a virus as of last year that was called rhino enterovirus. Never heard of that before. ⁓ I was told it can manifest in many different ways, but his was, Liam is a chatty Cathy. He’s very talkative.

So he’s a wild man too, but a sweetheart, but he was not speaking correctly and he was very lethargic. And I thought, you know, what’s going on? So we took him in to be checked, especially with his history and the pediatrician that was responsible. That’s typically we have a wonderful pediatrician, but the one she wasn’t there that day. And so this other lady who I hope I never see again. And I say that politely because ⁓

It’s had its consequences for what happened, but ⁓ we had ⁓ she scheduled him for an MRI without sedation. And that did not go well. He’s not the type of child to sit still and at four and a half. If you have to have an MRI, ⁓ that is scary already. That is a very scary process. And it has created many problems where, like, if we were to pull up into a parking deck, he immediately starts freaking out that he’s in.

Brandi Lewis (45:52)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (46:03)
a hospital. And so it’s always created something. with that MRI, ⁓ we found out that he has a Chiari malformation. So basically where the brain stem and the spinal cord meet up, that area right there is too constricted. And so a lot of people have it’s very common, apparently, and most people don’t find that it manifests problems until they’re in their late 20s, early 30s. And then you have to go in and have surgery where they cut you open.

Brandi Lewis (46:29)
Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (46:34)
So we found that on accident. So as a matter of fact, in a week and half, we have an MRI again to check on that. So it’s been a process. He’s definitely been an anomaly. We’ve seen a geneticist for him. They gave us clearance. The cardiologist gave us clearance that he has a healthy heart. But yeah, it’s been a process.

Brandi Lewis (46:54)
Yeah, sounds like probably something you never thought you’d go through and you probably thought you’d be the only anonymity in your family and not having to deal with that. How was Liam taking this? Is he aware of anything that’s going on or where is he?

Mariana Elchert (47:11)
I thank goodness we call him the scarecrow like from the wizard robots. He is just so joke like you’ll see him. He’s running. He’s what he’s just a just a classic boy happy just Fantastic. I mean he I don’t think he understands it until we have the next You know when we go that morning, he’ll know something’s up. We have to coach him now

Brandi Lewis (47:16)
Yeah.

Yeah, that’s awesome.

Mariana Elchert (47:36)
To kind of walk him through it because we do know that that PTSD is gonna kick in where he starts to Have a meltdown and it is it’s awful. I did ⁓ The very first time they took him away I did write something and if you don’t mind I’ll read it to you and I’ve actually I’ve never read this out loud This is I don’t even think my husband’s heard this ⁓ Today could best be described as what a tiger must feel like at a zoo trapped in an enclosed area constantly pacing looking out

Brandi Lewis (47:51)
Yeah, please.

Mariana Elchert (48:05)
and people passing by. Time seems infinite. Meanwhile inside, you just want to break free and go on with normal life. Watching my son being rolled away, I have never felt so helpless. It’s always been me that has to be rolled away. How my parents made it through multiple 14 to 16 hour surgeries with me, I can’t even fathom the anguish. The patient is put to sleep while the glacial pace of the clock haunts those who wait.

The patient is left to heal while those standing by can only offer as much help as they can give. I wonder how many hours I have lost sitting in hospitals, how many moments were stolen away. I used to find myself in procedures sitting in a quiet stairwell and now as a patient, a parent of a patient, I find myself in the same place, always looking for the ability to sit in the stillness unnoticed.

Brandi Lewis (48:58)
It’s definitely very well explained and you can tell from that poem that you’ve been on both sides. You were the patient and now you’re the caregiver.

Mariana Elchert (49:11)
And I know that God picked me to be Liam’s mom. He picked me to be Roman’s mom. Roman is very strong-willed like myself. ⁓ But Liam is the anomaly. And I will be right there through and through, through Christ.

Brandi Lewis (49:15)
Yeah, he did.

Yeah.

And with Roman being strong-willed, he picked him to be his brother. Yeah. Wow. It is a full circle. Even though life is tough, it’s awesome how you can see God place his hand on your life. He gave you Liam for a reason. And I know that the days are hard. I know that you probably have nights where it’s just tears everywhere.

Mariana Elchert (49:32)
Exactly.

school circle.

Absolutely.

Brandi Lewis (49:56)
and frustration. ⁓

Mariana Elchert (49:59)
Yeah, it has definitely changed my faith. It has definitely

changed it. ⁓ I used to find that, and like I said, I’ve always been a believer ⁓ and I went through moments of anger, confusion, all the things. But I think it’s very symbolic that I find myself in a stairwell. ⁓ It’s almost like a place of ⁓ complete calm and it can go one way the other. And you have to be at peace in that moment. So it’s kind of

poetic justice that I find myself there. ⁓ But with this whole process, I have been on my knees begging God, please, I can’t do this. ⁓ And the way that it’s changed my faith is the way I pray now. I found that I would pray in the moments that were the darkest and then things would be okay again. And I would pray, but not like I did.

after this last bout with the Chiari Malformation, ⁓ I find myself, because there’s different types of prayers, there’s intercessory prayers for others, there’s praying for yourself, there’s praying for guidance, there’s all the different types of ways you can pray. But to pray in the moments of the peace and the calm, and there’s seasons in life. You’re gonna have a hard season, you’re gonna have a calm season, you’re have a happy season, there’s seasons.

And knowing that those seasons are gonna be okay at the end of the day, no matter what you’re walking with, ⁓ I think is what’s most important. So when I find myself at work and in those calm moments, praying, thank you, God, I’m grateful for the gratitude. Thank you for this beautiful day. Thank you for this moment that I just shared with my son, this conversation that we just had, ⁓ the small things and being abundantly grateful.

Brandi Lewis (51:50)
Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (51:54)
And even being grateful when things aren’t so great. You know, it’s like, but the way that I pray now is I know that I have to lean in and I have to surrender. And to give it to him knowing that he’s got it, that’s hard. It’s so difficult. But if I can sit there and go, I know that you have this, so I’m going to hand it to you.

And I have to know that you’re going to be there and you’re already there and you’ve already worked out whatever this problem is, whether I like it or not, what the result is, you’re there. And if you can lean in and surrender, I think that’s the biggest takeaway from what I’ve learned with Liam that I didn’t get with myself. You know, from the things I went through, I’ve learned so much through him and it’s made me a tremendously better person to understand.

Brandi Lewis (52:36)
Hmm

that is so beautiful. From that, it sounds like you have full faith in God’s outcome. Of course, you’re praying you wanted to be healthy, but you’re giving it, you’re fully giving it all to God. And for people that are listening to this that may not understand what prayer means, like I think, you know, a lot of the times us that are believers and us that

Mariana Elchert (52:55)
It’s hard. ⁓

Brandi Lewis (53:14)
believe in God and understand prayer, other people don’t understand what that means. They don’t understand what that faith looks like or surrendering looks like. Just in your own words, can you explain like what is faith to you?

Mariana Elchert (53:31)
That is a great question. And I think that it is a very difficult one at the same time. To me, I think that it means believing in something bigger than yourself. ⁓ You can’t. And it’s just, you know, it’s one of those things where you can’t see God, you can’t hear him, ⁓ not out loud like as a voice. And some people maybe can, you know, maybe that’s the way it is. But ⁓ for me,

Brandi Lewis (53:36)
Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (54:00)
I have to trust that he’s got this because there’s no other explanation. There have been things in my life that I can’t explain, Brandy. There are things there. I’ve witnessed a miracle with Liam. I mean, there was a something they found in his ear. had surgery on his ear and they found it in his appointment. And I was thinking that appointment was going to go OK. And I thought, wow, I cannot believe we’re fixing to have to go through something else. And in the surgery.

The surgeon was in 10 minutes. He called me from the surgical procedure and the OR and he goes, whatever was there is not there anymore. And I’m like, what? Hey, you know, so I can’t explain that. I mean, you know, it’s ⁓ my dad and always like to watch The Chosen because it gives you something to relate to. You know, you hear about God and Jesus and a lot of people know, but he was a man. He had feelings. He

Brandi Lewis (54:42)
Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (54:57)
He felt things, he had emotions, and it helps me relate. Whether it’s some of it is extra fictitious or whatever to add to the story, that’s okay. But they try to go along the guidelines as much as they can. But to witness it from that perspective and realize that he was a man and had those same feelings and wants and hurts and things like that, it makes it more relatable. And you have to have a blind faith. ⁓

A lot of people don’t believe in God and I understand that and I’m not going to judge anybody. I’m not anybody to judge. That’s not up to me. ⁓ I hope that people can lean into him, but you know, it’s one of those things that you have to love people from whatever their circumstances.

Brandi Lewis (55:39)
Yeah, where they are now. It’s so funny you say that about Jesus and the reminder of he was a human because there are times where I’ll catch myself and I’m like, if Jesus could go through what he went through here, I can get through this too. You know, it’s just saying that, like you said, just having that reminder. There’s something about that of I can make it through this day.

Mariana Elchert (55:53)
Exactly.

Brandi Lewis (56:03)
I will just take it one day at a time, that’s okay, but I’m going to make it through this day so I can get to the next. And like you said, there are seasons in life and in those seasons where it’s hard, I think that is a great reminder for people to lean on ⁓ because Jesus went through a lot here and was crucified and judged and spit on. Like there was so much he went through and things we will never understand, but if he can go through that.

Mariana Elchert (56:10)
Absolutely.

Brandi Lewis (56:30)
we can get through this too. I love that reminder. I think that’s beautiful.

Mariana Elchert (56:34)
Absolutely. And I think, you know, that’s one other thing with faith in general. ⁓ All you can do is be a good example for others. That’s world peace is actually really simple. World peace is simple. The way to solve it is if each person made the conscious decision every day to be a better person, then everybody would have solved that equation. Unfortunately, you know, the devil plays in things that he shouldn’t play in.

Brandi Lewis (56:47)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (57:01)
and there will always be turmoil in the world, but if we can be kind, if we can show love to one another or find somebody to compliment, but find it and mean it. Like that’s one goal I have every day. Let me find one person that I can actually compliment something and mean it from my heart. ⁓ Just to pass on some love and kindness, like that’s it. mean, we’re all, I mean, we’re in this together, so we may as well get along and be happy and kind to one another.

Brandi Lewis (57:29)
It’s true, I agree. think kindness goes a long way, a longer way than what people think. And like you said, like I was at a Christmas party last night and this girl came dressed up and she looked so cute. And I just complimented her and said, you look so cute tonight. She was like, thank you. She was like, I don’t know if I’m overdressed. She said, but I’m like, might as well dress up. I’m like, that really, you can tell, meant a lot to her because she went out her way to look nice and to come to this party. You just never know.

what those words mean to somebody, yeah.

Mariana Elchert (57:57)
Yeah.

And you don’t know when they need it either. You don’t know what your pick and you could open something in somebody that prevents them from doing something bad. You know, I mean, it’s impactful.

Brandi Lewis (58:01)
Yep, you don’t.

Yeah, it’s so true.

Yeah. Well, I really, as far as Liam goes, I will be thinking about him, praying for him. ⁓ Yeah, he will definitely be on my prayer list for sure. Can you tell us where is he right now as far as everything going on?

Mariana Elchert (58:22)
Thank you.

I appreciate that.

He is, ⁓ he’s doing fabulous. He is, he’s fixing to do this MRI and the neurosurgeon says that he thinks he’ll outgrow it. ⁓ I don’t know, we’ll see what this next appointment holds. ⁓ I have been blessed and disguised with a very chaotic December on purpose, I think. ⁓ I think it was by design that God wants me to compartmentalize this to the furthest part of my subconscious.

Because otherwise I would probably be a wreck right now and I’m not I know that I’m at peace because I know he has this He’s gonna figure he’s already figured it out Whatever is in the plan is there and one way or the other if Liam does have a situation that we have to have surgery Then God’s gonna be there too. And that’s that’s all I can I can only give it to him. That’s it. But as of right now Oh, man, if you he’s down the street right now at my mom’s house, but

If you saw him, you would just start laughing. He’s just a very comical. He’s a character and he looks like he’s just fantastic. He’s a sweetheart. And so is Roman. They’re both great boys. I’m very blessed.

Brandi Lewis (59:35)
in.

That’s awesome. You are very blessed. And from one person to the other, I think you are a beautiful young woman. My mom has spoke so highly about you and she was like, who are you interviewing today? And I said, it’s Marianna. She was like, I’m so, she was like, I cannot wait to hear that episode. So from one person to the other, and between me and my mom, we have said the most amazing things about you and she is very excited to have you on too. Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (59:58)
Sorry, everyone. Thank you.

I you what, it’s an honor. I’ve loved both of you guys. I’ve watched your podcast. I hope people tune in so much because you are an inspiration. You are so articulate. You are gorgeous as well. And your mom is an angel. She said some things to my dad in this. He’s fixing to take a leap of faith himself ⁓ to this bigger portion of our business for She Loved Express. And, you know, it’s all he’s ever known what he had been doing.

Brandi Lewis (1:00:13)
Me too. thank you. Thank you. Yeah.

Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (1:00:34)
So to take this fully on and take this leap of faith has been scary. And your mother came in and said the most, I mean, just perfect words that he needed to hear. And it could have only been from the Holy Spirit that it filtered through her and he needed it. And I watched him tear up and about to start to cry. So, I mean, you you guys have been a part of our story as well. So thank you.

Brandi Lewis (1:00:58)
⁓

I love that. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, I do want to end this where people can get an update on where you are health-wise and then any words of encouragement for somebody out there that may be going through what you went through or just needs some type of encouragement.

Mariana Elchert (1:01:15)
Absolutely. Health wise for me, at 36, I mean, you know, have the typical aches and pains of growing older. I mean, apart from that, I’ve been so blessed that I can run around and chase these two crazy little boys that I have. And I mean that in the best way. ⁓ It brought so much joy to my life. But health wise, I’m doing fantastic. ⁓ As long as in my predicament, I have to stay on top of my regimen for vitamins and things like that to make sure I’m taking care of myself.

But as far as a closing comment goes.

Lean in, surrender ⁓ to your faith if you can. If you don’t have faith, I encourage you to reach out and try to explore what is possible because it’s such a… There’s peace that comes with it beyond understanding. And that’s the only thing that I can encourage. And each day is a reset. You can always find a better way in a better day. And there’s always room for improvement. ⁓

but to be kind to yourself, to be kind to others. I think those are my biggest takeaways.

Brandi Lewis (1:02:26)
Yeah, I love that. think that’s a great way to end. Thank you so much, Maryanna. I’m excited for people to hear this. This is going to be awesome. Yeah.

Mariana Elchert (1:02:30)
Thank Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate you girl.