NOTE FROM THE MACS STAFF

Cheyenne's story was written before she passed away. We will update her story as soon as we receive more information from her family.

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.

(..... to be continued .....)