Taylor C. - Quilt Finished in 2007

Born: May 16, 1999

Illness: Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, Hemolytic Anemia, G6PD, Autism

Taylor's Story

Written by Taylor's mom Leslie in April 2006

I woke up on the morning of May 16, 1999 with some mild spotting at 34 weeks of pregnancy.  Of course scared out of my mind, I went straight to the hospital, where I was told that I was in labor. 

After about 4 hours of hard back labor this beautiful little angel was born.  At first she was not really responding so they gave her a little oxygen and showed her to me for a split second and then took her to the NICU where she spent the first 48 hours of her life.  They felt that it was just a virus or infection and antibiotics would take care of it. 

They sent her home on the third day with a bili blanket and lab orders to return the next day.  For the first month of her life we were at the physicians office daily, and in and out of the hospital with no clue as to what was going on. 

Finally on June 11, 1999 we were sent to Egelstons childrens hospital, because her hemoglobin had dropped to 7 and her bilirubin levels were 21.  We were so scared, all we wanted was for our little angel to be ok.  There we settled in for an extended stay.  After numerous testing we found out that she had hemolytic anemia with G6PD.  This is a lifelong illness that never goes away.  But my baby was going to be ok... She had 2 transfusions before we left the hospital and we visited every 6-8 weeks from then on out to 1 year of age.  Then we returned every six months for check ups. 

We got home and everything was going great but she was not like her siblings, she did not like light, sound or even being cuddled.  I could not figure this out she was so different.  She did not talk or like to play, everything had to be neat and orderly for her.  We decided to find out what was wrong, so we took her to a specialist, that is when we found out she was Autistic. 

Since then we have been very patient and lived the most normal life possible.  Taylor became really tired and just complaining of a stomach ache all the time, she started having these large bruises on her so I took her to the doctor once again, they ran alot of test and found out that she has Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.  She had her first Chemo treatment of Vincristin and some other word on Monday April 24, 2006.  Today she is a tired little girl, but an angel to me.  We are keeping the faith that she will go into remission very soon!  I love my little angel very much!