Cheyenne's Story
written by mom Virginia
Cheyenne was born on March 13th 2000. She
was 2 weeks and 2 days late. During my pregnancy a building I was in,
collapsed and buried me. I was so worried because they told me at the
hospital that she would be born severally damaged. But when she was born she
was healthy and beautiful. She didn't cry and just was a perfect little
angel. She was my miracle.
As she grew up I came to realize that she was a very smart little girl also.
She had and still has, such a quick wit about her. Sometimes when you talk
to her you forget that she is so young. She went to preschool at the age of
3 and really enjoyed and excelled at it. She was ready for kindergarten by 4
but because of her age was not allowed so she spent another year in
preschool. Kindergarten was fun for her. She really loves school. She loves
to learn and loves to be around people.
When Cheyenne went in to first grade, I decided to go back to school to
become a teacher myself. I figured since she was in school all day, that I
could take classes and not be away from her or her sisters. I ended up
taking a class that needed me to be at the college at night. So I took my
sweet little girls with me. They had so much fun meeting all the young
adults and of course, Cheyenne hit if off with all of them.
At the mid to end of November of 2006, Cheyenne had been complaining in the
morning about headaches and then throwing up. I thought that maybe there was
something going on at the school and set up a meeting there. That night, I
took the kids with me again to college and I noticed when I was talking to
Cheyenne, that her right eye was turned in to look at her nose and it
wouldn't straighten out. I became very concerned. I took her to the doctor
the next day. The doctor sent her to the eye doctor. They gave her glasses.
It was at this point that I realized that she was having difficulty seeing.
So when I went to her school and pulled out an independent study until the
glasses were ready, I found out that her teacher had been benching her for 2
weeks because she wasn't doing the work. She couldn't see the work. So we
went back to the doctor's office to let them know that the glasses weren't
working. They decided that in 2-3 weeks they would do a CT scan to see if
she needed surgery on her eye.
My great uncle is a doctor and when I told him what was going on, he stated
that I was to go to the ER and not leave until they did a CT scan. I took
her the next morning, December 16, 2006, to the hospital, They did the CT
scan and found a mass in her brain stem and ambulanced us to CHOC. When we
got to CHOC, they did an MRI on December 17, 2006 and then let me know that
she had a Brain Stem Glioma, that it was not operable and with chemo and
radiation she would have about 12 months to live.
We started chemo the day after Christmas and it was a long 30 days. She had
to go for chemo and radiation 5 days a week for 6 weeks. While she was doing
that, she made so many friends with the doctors and nurses. It was very
cute. Cheyenne started baking for her care givers... cupcakes, cookies and
home made pies. She made blankets with her sisters and donated them to the
hospital and she bought toys with her own money and gave them to other kids
who were receiving treatment too.
Cheyenne has become and inspiration to so many people. She loves others and
she always put others before herself. We are now past those crucial 12
months and Cheyenne is still with us.... She is a miracle for sure... I hope
and pray everyday that the Lord will give us more time with her.
March 13th is her birthday. A birthday they said she would never reach. We
are planning a huge party with a live band and everything. Cheyenne does
chemo every other Friday at CHOC. She will continue to do it until this one
doesn't work anymore and then they will try another one. She has school 3
days a week. She has a teacher that comes to her. She just joined the
challenger baseball league where we live. It is a league for kids with
medical problems. They get to play but without the fear of getting hurt like
in the regular league.
Abilities:
See: Yes, but sometimes has double or blurry vision.
Hear: Yes.
Talk: Yes.
Walk: Yes.
Read: Yes, but sometimes hard to see.
Use hands: Yes.
Siblings:
sister Raven, age 13
sister Jordhan, age 12
sister Devinlee, age 1
Child's Interests:
Cheyenne loves baking, Green Day, board games, Green Day, Cinderella and did
I mention Green Day?
Sibling's Interests:
Raven likes horses, pigs, drawing and drama.
Jordhan likes Zac Efron, purses, sewing and fashion.
Devinlee likes anything that lights up and makes noises.
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