Limitless JOY - Boundless LOVE - Endless MEMORIES: May 2012

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

LIFE...

Some reference the Ups & Downs...

Mr. Matthews - make that Dave - sings about it in
'Funny the Way It Is' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2mFDTTWqOU

The spiritual path I follow speaks of Joys & Sorrows...

LIFE - so full... of this all

I was perhaps most struck by the Joys and Sorrows on March 6th of this year. On the night marking the 3rd anniversary of Tyra's death I was planning the celebration of...

Princess Giana's 3rd Birthday.

Giana and her mom, Shelonda, have brought great JOY into recent months. They have both allowed me to reach into my 'Mom bag' and it has been wonderful.

Three years ago as I was filled with sorrow preparing to bury my child, Shelonda was preparing to greet this bundle of JOY.

"Funny the way it is when you think about it..."

Tonight, I too am reminded of the Joys & Sorrows. Tonight, at about this time, my sweet girl would be making her way across the stage during her High School graduation. I wrote about the sorrows of this year here http://luvinty.blogspot.com/2011/08/back-to-school.html

Amidst the sorrow of today there is JOY to be found. JOY to be found inside Tyra's High School yearbook. JOY to be found in the countless number of friends that might have thought to have her remembered on these pages. JOY to be found in having a friend who did. JOY to be found in the friends who made it possible for me to have this treasure at my side as I type this entry. JOY to be found in Tyra's certain giggle as I searched the book to find this surprise.

JOY in her loving memory...

OUR STORY

During the Fall of 1992 I met & quickly fell in LOVE with the most beautiful brown eyed bundle of JOY. Tyra was just nine months old and was in respite care while her 19yo birth mother, Chelle, was undergoing chemotherapy for Osteosarcoma. Chelle carried Tyra full term but as a result of uterine rupture Tyra was deprived of oxygen which resulted in a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy. Chelle died in August of 1993, leaving behind her two daughters Tisha (3yo) & Tyra (18mo).

The evolution of our family was complicated but a family we became and how honored I am to be Tyra's mom.

We had an amazing fun filled 15 years which you will discover as the Blog unfolds. In October of 2008, Tyra was hospitalized with GI issues. Up to this time she had only 2 very short unplanned hospitalizations. We spent 6 weeks at AI duPont that October/November with the GI team working her up from 'end to end'. She was discharged in November on TPN with a dx of Pseudo obstruction. I questioned how at 16 this now presents after she spent so many years with great health. Upon discharge we got connected with an INCREDIBLE Diagnostic Referral Physician in hopes of answering this question.

Tyra was re-admitted to the hospital in early February as she was very lethargic and still not tolerating g-tube feeds. With this admission came many new tests. Tests that were sent to outside labs. While we awaited the results Tyra's condition worsened. She had several seizures on the floor and was ultimately transferred to the PICU in a non-responsive state. An MRI showed devastating injury at the level of her brainstem. Three days after this crisis lab results came back showing Tyra to have a metabolic/mito disorder PDCD. I held my sweet girl in my arms as she took her last breaths on March 6, 2009. To say I miss her is far from adequate.