Skyla's Wish - the Perfect Dose of Vitamin Sea
Out of the cold Atlantic Ocean, a humpback whale breached. It was showing off, or so it seemed, for a girl who had long dreamed of just this moment. Wish mom Andrah looked toward her 12-year-old daughter Skyla, reveling in the happiness of the moment they were sharing.
“Everything was magical – that is the best way to put it,” said Andrah.
Not everything leading up to that experience had been as joyful. Two years earlier, Skyla received a devastating diagnosis – medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer. She had been experiencing painful headaches but doctors in the ER told her family she simply had allergies. Until one morning when Skyla came downstairs with part of her face drooping. Andrah rushed her back to the ER.
“I figured she had a stroke, but I was very wrong,” she said. “They told me it was cancer in her brain and that they had to remove the tumors and start her on radiation and chemotherapy every week.”
After six weeks of continued cycles she was declared in remission.
Skyla recently celebrated eight months with no detection of cancerous cells. She is constantly getting brain and spinal scans, however, to ensure that she remains cancer free.
“It’s been such a hard road, but her wish gave her the chance to think and dream about things that make her happy,” said Andrah. Although she had never been to the ocean, Sklya loves whales. Her wish was to go whale-watching in Cape Cod.
"After the tumor was removed, the entire right side of her body was impacted including walking and running. We told her that on her wish she would be doing a lot of walking and Skyla was so motivated to be strong for her wish. She got to a really comfortable goal thanks to physical therapy and never had to use her walker on the trip. Now, her next goal is running - she is now working on her strength to be able to run. Make-A-Wish has brought the biggest smiles to my daughter's face but also strength. I love seeing how she has thrived and it's mainly because of her wish."
Skyla’s trip to Cape Cod included hours playing in the sand, swimming in the hotel pool and the day-long whale-watching trip, where they also spotted dolphins. The wish brought the family closer together, after years of emotional strain, and helped Skyla feel physically stronger.
“Skyla uses a walker at times to help her when she's tired. She was so excited and determined that she didn’t care about using it. Everything was so invigorating to her and she walked more on our trip than she had in a long time. I could not get over how happy she was and how healing it was for all of us to have this opportunity.”
