|
Hunter Watkins with her mother Trichelle
Hunter Brittney Watkins was born on July 13, 2000, the youngest girl of six.
Little did we know that this tiny spirit would forever touch the hearts of
those who know her. Hunter was a wonderful baby. She was very content to sit
in her swing and just swing. She has always been very susceptible to
sicknesses especially respiratory illnesses. Hunter has always had problems
with her speech which has never developed beyond basic labeling and even then
it was quite limited. She has always loved Scooby-Doo or as she says “Doo
Doo.” She had a Daphne Barbie doll that she carried day and night for months.
She also loves Harry Potter. She has watched these two movies at least a
thousand times over.
Hunter is one of six beautiful girls born to Jacob and Trichelle
Watkins. She has five wonderful and caring sisters: AnnaLisa 11, Lacey 10,
Kiersten 9, Whitney 7, and Sadee 3. They have a chocolate lab named Hershey
whom she adores. Every day after school Hunter races to find “Herdy” as she so
lovingly calls him. The lives of her family have forever been changed by the
news of her disease and prognosis.
Hunter’s Mom Writes:
Our lives were changed forever on September 29, 2003. I was making
breakfast when I tripped over Hunter on the kitchen floor. She looked like she
had passed out although her eyes were open and she was blue. I thought she was
choking. I proceeded to give her the Heimlich Maneuver . About a minute passed
when for no reason she woke up. I rushed her to the hospital where they told
me that they thought she had an Absence seizure. Two weeks later she had a
Grand Mal seizure. We were told to take her to Primary Children’s Medical
Center in Salt Lake City, Utah where she would see a neurologist. After a
series of exams and testing we were told that our daughter had a seizure
disorder but they wanted to run some more tests for some metabolic disorders
because of what they had found on her MRI. All of the many tests that were run
came back negative.
In December 2003 we noticed a lot of regression in Hunter’s behavior and
personality. She could no longer feed herself with silverware. She had begun
to be very unsteady on her feet and would loose her balance very easily.
Hunter was potty trained both day and night but no longer even noticed when
she was wet or messy. She could no longer tell us or point to any body parts
like eyes or nose that she once knew so well. She was loosing all of the
animal sounds she had once been so fond of. She began to cry all of the time.
We were sent to a metabolic geneticist. He thought that she had Rett Syndrome.
Although her test came back negative we were kind of just left with the
presumptive diagnosis of Rett Syndrome and for a time no more tests were run.
Seven months went by and nothing happened other than the seizures
increased and no medication would help. We had reached a level of seizures
that Hunter had to wear a helmet all day for fear of hurting herself. In
September of 2004, we noticed she was loosing more skills at a faster rate.
Someone had to feed her. She could no longer do it for her self. Right before
Halloween Hunter had a big fall and hit her head really hard. We took her to
the emergency room for a CT scan. The doctor told us that the brain was OK
other than the atrophy. This put us on guard because we were never told of any
other shrinking of the brain. We got in touch with her neurologist and they
did another MRI which revealed that indeed there was a definite shrinking of
the brain. They tested her for NCLS (Batten Disease). The test was positive.
Fifteen months after this all started we finally had a true diagnosis. It’s
not a good diagnosis but at least it is a definitive answer to Hunter’s
illness. After receiving this news we had her eyes tested to see how much she
had lost or where her baseline eyesight was. It was determined that she is
legally blind and will continue to loose the rest of what she can see.
Having Hunter in our lives is one of our most precious blessings. She
has taught us so much about unconditional love, patience, compassion,
happiness, peace, and joy. She has taught us to enjoy each day as they come
and to cherish those around you because you never know what can happen. I am
grateful to my Heavenly Father for sending one of his most cherished
possessions to our family. I will always cherish the way she touches the palm
of her hand to the side of your cheek and looks at you so lovingly, her open
mouthed kisses, the way she says her name “Huunner”, or the way she smiles at
you.
Hugging Helps!
Hugging is good medicine. It transfers energy, and gives the person hugged an
emotional boost. You need four hugs a day for survival, eight for maintenance,
and twelve for growth. A hug makes you feel good. The skin is the largest
organ we have and it needs a great deal of care. A hug can cover a lot of skin
and gives the message that you care. It is also a form of communication. It
can say things you don't have words for. The nicest thing about a hug is that
you usually can't give one without getting one.
Author Unknown
Hug O War
I will not play at Tug O War
I'd rather play at Hug O War
Where everyone hugs, instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles and rolls on the rugs,
Where everyone kisses and everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles and everyone wins.
Author: Shel Silverstein
|
|