Alopecia is an autoimmune disease that affects hair growth on the scalp and entire body which results in minor or complete hair loss with slim chances of regrowth, for which there is no cure. For children especially, it is easy to imagine the detrimental psychological effects losing hair can have on self-esteem and confidence. I want to share a beautiful story about a little girl named Maci Huffsteltler that shows how she faced the many challenges of Alopecia and reading Ella The Enchanted Princess Who Are You?helped her how to Always Believe In Herself and build her self esteem and confidence!
I would like to introduce you to this wonderful superhero Maci Huffsteltler a beautiful 6 year old little girl who lost all of her hair. Losing her hair has not stopped Maci in being an active little girl.
Having no hair has not stopped Maci from doing the things she loves. Maci takes ballet and tap classes and loves to dance for everyone and when she is home she is always playing with her baby dolls.
Maci is in kindergarten and her mom, Kari, homeschools her as well as her other siblings. Maci is lucky to have two older sisters and one younger brother that she can share her feelings with. She is lucky to be surrounded by a loving family!
When Maci was just five years old, her mother, Kari noticed her daughter losing patches of hair. What followed was the eventual devastating diagnosis of alopecia and within just one month Maci was completely bald. Kari said "Before we could get her to the doctor we were noticing more spots everyday. That’s when she was diagnosed with alopecia. It was a shock to us and I full blown mourned her losing her hair. I cried multiple times a day and just could not understand why she lost it."
Maci, however, handled losing her hair in a different way. She was very strong through it all. She just went on with her day like it didn’t bother her. "There has only been a few days when she has struggled with it but for the most part she handles it better than I could ever." Kari said " We tell her all the time she is the strongest little girl we know."
She absolutely loves to go to church where she has the best friends. They have all been friends for years so they knew her before she lost all of her hair. Mom shares "I was afraid they would treat her differently but that was never the case. They still love her and they see Maci as Maci their best friend not Maci the girl with no hair. And as a momma nothing makes my heart more happy. She is a mommas girl for sure but loves her daddy to pieces also."
Maci recieved Ella The Enchanted Princess Who Are You? from one of her mother's friend from church. Mrs. Lori bought theElla The Enchanted Princess Who Are You? book for her. Mom states "When I tell you it helped her through losing her hair I absolutely mean it. I remember the night she gave it to us. Maci and I went to her room just her and I and read it together. I cried as I read it it was just so sweet." Kari continues, "I tried to hide Maci's spots under big bows and at the time the book came it was becoming harder to hide them. Reading how Ella finally realized she didn’t need the hats or anything she was beautiful on her own just really spoke to me. And thank you for the sweet sweet book truthfully it helped us through the hardest thing we have faced. "
When Kari reached out to me to thank me I knew that I wanted to share this very moving story. Her mother shared with me what Maci said when she told her that I wanted to write about her. She squealed with excitement and said "I knew I would be famous lol I will be in a book." Then Kari explained to her that I was writing an article and putting on my blog. Maci was still very excited! It is my pleasure to hear that Princess Ella could help someone like Maci and her mom get through the challenges of Alopecia.
Maci is a true Princess Ella her beauty shines from within, making whatever is on the outside unimportant. Her brilliant heart full of love, her kindness that she shows to others because she knows what it's like to be different and her unfailing hope are all her most precious gifts to those whose lives she embraces.
Maci already has everything she needs: a family that loves her, friends that support her and a community that accepts her for who she is.
"Maci has had a lot of regrowth over the past few weeks and we know our God is big and is healing her. We can’t wait to see her with a full head of hair again in God's time." Kari shared.
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