Make A Child Smile

Taryn's Story
written by mom Delores

Taryn was born June 13, 1997 (Friday the 13th). She weighed 5lbs 5ozs. Taryn had an absolutely normal childhood. She learned to walk and talk at an early age. She was always very independent. Potty training was a breeze.

At times we referred to her as "Halle Berry" because she gave Oscar worthy performances. Especially if she was caught misbehaving. At all times she was the boss of her brothers.

In October 2006, we noticed Taryn's right eye protruding slightly. We thought this was an allergic reaction to shrimp. The "swelling" did not go away. After several eye exams, the doctor concluded that there wasn't anything showing on the tests. We waited until February 2007 to test again.

During this visit, the doctor ordered an MRI. The MRI showed a tumor behind Taryn's right eye. The tumor was sitting between her optic nerve and the eye muscle. Taryn did not have any symptoms of this. She had complete vision and eye movement. We were immediately referred to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Our first visit there was March 13 and they scheduled her to come back a week later.

On March 21, 2007, Taryn was diagnosed with Mesenchymal Chondrosarcoma (a soft tissue sarcoma) at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. After a series of tests, it was determined that the tumor was localized. However, Taryn underwent a series of chemotherapy treatments and radiation treatments. The chemotherapy treatment would last for five days at a time, using two of the strongest medicines available. Before each chemo treatment, Taryn was given an Echo (to make sure her heart would be ok with the treatment). The radiation treatments consisted of treatments 5 days per week for 5 weeks. Since the treatments were everyday, we had to stay at the Ronald McDonald House in Memphis.

Taryn spent her birthday in Memphis this year. It was very nice, since the families at the Ronald McDonald House gave her a surprise party. After several MRIs and CT scans, we were told what Taryn's options would be. We could leave the tumor and understand that Taryn would not live to see 2008 or we could remove Taryn's eye and the tumor, and she could possibly live to be 90. It was a very long week. We chose the latter decision.

The morning of Taryn's surgery we were late to the surgery floor. It was very hard knowing that within one hour, everything would be changed. That morning, as we looked in the mirror, it was almost an indescribable feeling knowing that the doctors were going to have to remove an absolutely perfect eye. She still had perfect vision and movement.

On July 30, 2007, Taryn's right eye was removed, including the optic nerve, muscles, eyelids, and surrounding tissue. Taryn is currently in the process of healing. She has to have dressing changes three times per week. We are at the stage where infections are possible. Right now, she is being treated for an infection that is a result of the daily antibiotics that she takes. This will slow the healing process. It could be a minimum of six months before she can be fitted for her prosthesis.

Through all of this, Taryn has not once asked "why me?" We try to be thankful and blessed. We have seen a lot of children with different illnesses. We are grateful that we can say that she is ok and mean it. She is concerned about her appearance, though. Sometimes children stare, sometimes adults stare. When they do stare, we look directly at them and say hello. Taryn just wants to be able to stop wearing the patch everyday. She's feeling well and happy. Of course, she wants Christmas 2007 to be the best one yet.