Dear Andy,
My name is Takia and I am a single mother of De’meiah, whose goes by Meme. Meme is seven years old. Back in March of this year our lives changed forever. My baby girl was diagnosed with cancer. In March doctors performed an MRI on Meme to find out why she was experiencing weakness in her left arm. That day changed my life forever. During the MRI Meme stopped breathing and doctors had to wake her up. She had a bad reaction to the medication that was given to her to help her asleep. I thought I had lost my child. I was so nervous and scared I dropped to my knees and prayed to God. After the MRI we found out Meme had a tumor on her spinal cord and was diagnosed with Pilocytic Astrocytoma of the spinal cord. Meme had to have emergency surgery on her neck to see if the tumor was cancerous. Luckily the tumor was not cancerous. However, her doctor recommended chemotherapy as the best course of treatment. Meme went under another surgery to have a port placed in her chest to receive the chemo. I was so upset after her initial diagnosis, but my family and God have help get us through this difficult time. Meme is getting better and goes to physical therapy and occupational therapy regularly to help gain strength back in left arm.
This past year has been rough financially. I need to miss work routinely to take Meme to receive her treatments and this will continue for the next year. For Christmas Meme, could use a laptop. When Meme gets sick from her treatments she has to be home schooled. This will help her complete her assignments. Meme would also like a new bedroom set, preferably in pink. We also need a new television in our living room. Our old television caught fire in July and have been without since. We love to shop at Walmart, Target, Ross, Food Lion and Publix. Our favorite restaurants are Longhorn Steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse and Carey Hillards.
Any help this Holiday season will be a blessing. We are grateful for the outpatient clinic team at the Children’s Hospital, 98.7 and the Jack Kolbush Foundation for making this happen. We know God is working it out for the better and one day I hope to give back by helping another family who may be going through something similar.
Meme’s mom,
Takia
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