I wanted you to know more about my niece, Mandy,
so I asked her mom to write this for me!!





     Mandy was born, May 26, 1994. She was 10 1/2 weeks premature and weighed 2 lbs. 6 ozs. Mandy was 13 3/4 inches long. She stayed in the hospital 55 days. While in the hospital she was diagnosed with hydrocephalus. She was to small for surgery. During this time they were doing spinal taps every other day to drain the fluid off her brain. She had a stroke on the left side of her brain. The right side of her body has always been her weaker side, but has improved considerably with therapy. When we were able to bring her home it was only for 3 days, the she had to go back in the hospital for surgery to have a VP shunt placed in her head. We were told by several doctors that she would probably be okay, but would be farther behind than most children because she had a lot of catching up to do. Her neurosurgeon told us that she might have some problems but we would not know what they were for some time. She was 18 months old before we knew that she was not going to be all right. We turned to the Early Intervention Program at Hudspeth Regional Center to help our baby girl. Mandy did not like some of the things she was required to do a Hudspeth, but we continued to go until she was four years old. She graduated from Hudspeth and began preschool at our public elementary school, she just finished her first year there.

     In 1996 Mandy had surgery on both of her legs. After the surgery her right leg was a lot better, but on the left foot she could only wear her brace for about 30 minutes at a time. A while after that we took her for a Botox injection, that didn't seem to help much either. In November 1998 Mandy had yet another surgery on her left leg. This surgery was just what she needed. Mandy is 5 years old now and is finally showing an interest in walking. I can put her braces on her in the morning and take them off at bed time.

     In August 1997 Mandy started getting sick quite often. We would rush her to the doctor or hospital to have a CT scan done, but they could not find anything wrong with her. This went on 2 - 3 times a week for a month. Her doctor finally consulted another doctor and found she had outgrown the tube from her shunt going into her brain. Since our doctor is not a pediatric doctor he had not seen this happen and was not looking for it. After this surgery she was fine until February 1998. She began having problems with her shunt again. This time the doctor put another shunt in, on the other side of her head. Talk about having a bad hair day, you haven't seen anything. She had long curly hair that she wore in a real cute ponytail until all the surgeries started. When she had her first surgery, they shaved half of her head, that was okay because her hair was long enough I could still make a pony tail and cover up the shaved area. When she had her second surgery there was no hope. We just had to practically shave her head and let it all grow out.

     Mandy could only speak a few words without much meaning to them until January 1998. Her dad and little brother were watching a football game. Mandy was sitting across the room playing by herself, not paying attention to what was going on around her, so we thought. Her dad was telling little brother about the football game, when I began hearing sounds from across the room.  I got closer so I could hear what she was saying.  Believe it or not she was saying football.  The 2 or 3 words she could say before that had no meaning to them, so I always tell everyone her first word was football. That same day she said about 8 new words. It has been a year and a half since that wonderful moment in our lives, although she will drive you crazy now with all of her talking.
I still think every time she says a new word or phrase that it is a miracle. I guess when she is thirty years old and says something new, mom will still be asking people "Did the heard that?"

     On April 1, 1998 Mandy took her first steps with her walker.  Her grandmother was with her when she reached this great milestone in her life.  She called momma at  work and told her Mandy had just taken her first steps.  Momma cried with joy but also wondered if this could be an April Fools joke.  It was no joke!!!  Mandy still is not walking much with her walker, but it is something we are working on.

     The past year was one of the worst and probably the best year we have had so far. It was bad in that Mandy began having seizures. She had her first one while we were out of state on vacation. We spent our entire trip in the hospital. Then she would have a seizure every month for a while, each time resulting in a 3 - 4 day hospital stay.  She began taking medication and the seizures are not as frequent as they were in the beginning but she still has one occasionally. She was in the hospital 10 times last year. The good part is that she started talking, trying to walk, and doing just about anything she sets her mind to do.  I always have to give her little brother credit for most of her accomplishments. She thinks if he can do it so can she.  And she will try most anything he does.

     Mandy has been taking swim lessons since she was three years old.  She goes in the spring and the fall, every Saturday.  She loves the water so this works out to be good therapy for her as well.  Mandy alsso has quite a beanie baby collection going and a Barbie "Collector's Edition" as well.  She is quite a character too... You should hear her on the phone !! For her 5th birthday, Mandy got a "Wild Thing" This is a motorized toy car that she sits in and drive and boy does she love it !!! This year Mandy played "buddy ball" in a special league called, "The Challenger League". I cannot say enough good things about the people involved in this League.  There are children of all ages playing on six different teams. Some of the children are in wheelchairs, some use walkers, and others can make their way around the bases with no help needed, but they all are very special and seem to really enjoy this activity.