THE MEANING OF FIGHT LIKE A GIRL My name is McKenzie, I am a 3rd grader at Collins Elementary School and boy have I learned how to fight like a girl for my life. Here is a brief history of my young life: I was conceived with Meth addicted parents. ... I was raised in a very dysfunctional home, until I was seven years old. Wow, what a life change for me!! I was so surprised because I had a glimpse of hope. My Grammy came to get me. She explained to me that I was no longer in danger and I would be living with her. She rushed me to the dentist, and the doctor’s office and other specialists. I struggled trying to discover who I was, how I was suppose to act. My Grammy taught me how to fight like a girl. I was being raised on a farm with horses, cows and dogs, and I was a cheerleader and becoming very sure of myself and secure in my new surroundings until one day, we learned that I had a very rare blood disease called Dyskeratosis Congenita; it started killing the bone marrow in my body. On or about November 8th, 2010, I had a usual day at school. After dinner was prepared I suddenly started complaining of aches and pains in my legs. The pain rapidly progressed to my entire body and all I wanted to do was just go to bed and sleep. I was immediately rushed to the Bristow hospital, where I was life flighted to St. Francis Children’s Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I was resuscitated twice during the flight and when I arrived my hemoglobin count was at a .2. I was on a respirator and a ventilator and was not expected to survive. My bone marrow had suddenly, completely failed. After many tests, the doctors determined that I needed to go to the only hospital in the USA that was familiar with this condition. I was told that am the 69th person in the world to be diagnosed with this disease. Out of those 69 individuals, only 20 sought treatment. Out of those 20, only 5 received treatment at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. My chances of survival without a bone marrow transplant were zero. They immediately made arrangements to get me admitted to the Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Donor Coordinator had located a 100% donor match and I received the new cells on January 28th 2011. Since then I have gotten just about every complication that a bone marrow transplant patient can have, GVH graft versus host disease that means the donor bone marrow is trying to reject me, the Steven Johnson disease from one of the medications I was removed from, fevers that caused a seizure, I fell & hit my head there was fear that I had a stroke, & they said I had lesions on my brain & they believed I had a small stroke. They tell me that I will be disabled and won’t be able to go back to school or even go outside. My maternal grandmother and guardian, has taken on the responsibility and care of me. She had to resign from her employment, lost her medical insurance, and is currently at the mercy of the Ronald McDonald House in Cincinnati, Ohio, for the duration of my treatment. We are expecting the treatment plan to extend for at least a one year period in Cincinnati. I am so very thankful for all of the love & support & prayers I have received since this all started. Thank You and God Bless, McKenzie ~ we fight like girls!!!
God Bless,
Melinda and McKenzie
blue_diamond_ranch@yahoo.com
