Kyra has always been very active in sports. She loved dumping water on her head during softball or soccer games. The beginning of 2017, She started putting on some weight and drinking water with an unquenchable thirst. She also started having stomach pains. At first, I thought it was an age-appropriate time for “cramps”. My mother disagreed and I took her to the doctor to investigate. At first, they said it was a stomach blockage, but nothing changed. They did a full blood panel and found out that her sodium level was severely low. They requested we bring her in immediately for a CT scan to make sure that she wasn’t having any seizures. The results were “no seizures, but we found a mass in her brain”.
She has had two rounds of chemotherapy separated by a round of 33 radiation treatments in the middle. During the second round of chemotherapy, Kyra went almost 3 weeks without eating, She lost a lot of weight and muscle mass. She was almost bedridden and could barely walk.
After that, she pushed herself to eat and get “back to where she was.” She wanted to play soccer and softball again. Due to the treatments and recovery thereof, she has gained back more weight than she is happy with. So we have been researching and reaching out to nutritionists, dieticians, trainers, etc.
We are also working with her on finding exercises for the mind. Helping her find tips or tricks to studying and remembering things that she will need to remember. It has taken extra work to help her develop her speech as she grows up. She has had difficulty maturing her speech due to memory retention. Sometimes her mouth and brain work at different speeds.
While Kyra was going through treatments, I found out that my business partner was embezzling, so our company folded up. It was a blessing and stressor. I didn’t have to worry about the business or disappointing clients, but now I had financial worries. We have been able to make things work. We live with my mother, and she was gracious enough to help with whatever we needed. She has been instrumental in Kyra’s journey.
Kyra is the strongest person I know. She looks at me as if I am strong and brave and I know that she tries to emulate that. But when we first found out about the tumor in her brain, her response was “Ok, what now? How do we get rid of it?” I remember being blown away. Like I usually have that response to breaking down on the highway or my power going out, and my 11 year old was just told about cancer in her brain and she just squinted, took a breath, and basically said, let’s do this.
She has never lost her light. I named her Kyra because it means Sun Goddess. She has been a shining example of her name. Even during treatment, she asked the nurses how they were doing, greeted people with a smile, joke, or a story. She is always smiling and trying to spread joy.
Hope session by Denise Wilson Photography | Facebook | Instagram