A child having a rare disease or genetic disorder can be every parent’s worst nightmare.
What was once sound becomes uncertain, and light in life ahead darkens into mystery. Some do not handle it well, but Cassandra Fuller has through her therapeutic business near Birnamwood.
For the past two years, the mother of two and transplant from Wausau has been the brains behind the Little Wellness Cabin. The boutique offers all-natural products like laundry soap, wax melts, deodorizer and hand soap, and came about on the Fuller family’s property after daughter Annette was diagnosed with NF-1, also known as neurofibromatosis type 1 or as von Recklinghausen syndrome.
The condition discovered in 1882 impacts around 120,000 people in the United States at any given time. It can cause tumors along the nervous system, which grow anywhere in the human body, learning disabilities and even depression. When the doctor gave Annette’s pain a name, Cassandra Fuller felt crushed and instantly cried, but from her prior research, she knew products without common chemicals could be of help, and thus, she began her entrepreneurial endeavor.
“In a sense, I wanted some control of something,” she said. “It is a good outlet versus turning to something I would not like. Things were inside the Lil’ Ole Winemaker Shoppe in Wausau. We moved, and I have gotten a lot of support from family and friends doing this.”
Indeed, the key aspect of the idea – the structure that gave the business its name – came from husband Ryan Fuller’s parents. At first, it was a dwelling they used when having fires outside to go into when the fire was not enough to combat the cold, but, with time, this task fell by the wayside. Cassandra then got it, and now, it is a center for commerce that even Annette enjoys.
“I love the wax melts,” Annette Fuller said. “It is good that my mom is helping people.”
The Little Wellness Cabin is located at N11565 Hutchins Aniwa Town Line Road just north of Zardas Auto and west of Mattoon. It is open from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.
More information can be found on its Facebook page, and while the physical products Fuller makes eventually get used up, one customer says the sweet scents linger nicely.
“Scents last forever in your home, and it’s all natural,” Kyara MacDonald, of Antigo, wrote in a Facebook review this month. “So safe for all our little ones … have a favorite scent already.”
evan.pretzer@yahoo.com
