MPW.65 / 2013 Double the Trouble by Aaron Phillips
Photographer
Aaron Phillips Jackson, Miss.

Team Lee

Story Summary

As 10-year-olds in Trenton, Missouri, a town of only 6,000 in the northern part of the state, twins Carley and Kennedy Wanstreet find plenty to do. Though the girls spend nearly all of their time together, they each have their favorite pastimes. For Carly, the girls’ kickboxing lessons are bringing her one step closer to her goal of being a professional WWE wrestler, while Kennedy takes pride in showing the family’s goats at fairs around the state.

But living with Congenital Adrenus Hyperplasia, or CAH, adds an extra challenge. CAH is a disorder that affects the adrenal glands ability to produce hormones. If caught in infancy--as it was with the twins--supplemental hormones can help regulate the affects of the disease. There are several symptoms that treatment does not curb, however, including weight gain, inability of the body to retain salts, and stunted growth. In spite of CAH, the sisters live relatively normal, Midwestern lives.