Make-A-Wish Changed My Life Not Once but Twice
Thirty-five years ago, in January 1984, my brother Joshua was the first wish to be granted in Michigan. As an 8-year-old girl, I remember him being sick a lot because of the cancer. When he went into the hospital, it was very scary, and I really missed him. Even as a child, I felt the stress and the worry.
Josh's trip to Walt Disney Word® Resort was moved up because his health was failing. Knowing now that he would pass away soon after the trip, it was even more special knowing we had such a fun time together as a family.
Fast forward to April 2017 when my husband Nate and I noticed that our daughter Briella was not acting like her normal bubbly self. Over the next four months, Briella's gums became so swollen that she couldn't eat so she was rapidly losing weight.
After six doctor visits, we took her in for an ultrasound. The cancer was everywhere. Briella stayed in the ICU for 17 days following the initial diagnosis.
I was very worried about her long and beautiful hair falling out in clumps and the stress she would feel from that. My mother-in-law cut Briella's hair into a cute pixie bob, but Briella was so sad about her hair. That was a defining moment for her in accepting her diagnosis of T-cell lymphoma.
Through all the hospital stays and appointments, it was hard not being able to be there for our two boys on top of the stress that we had for our ill child. The wish washed all of that away, and it reconnected us. At the end of it, the wish made our love for each other even stronger. It was literally a trip of a lifetime.
It is such a blessing that Make-A-Wish has given to my family not once but twice. It gets overwhelming sometimes at how much people care and what they have done to help these children like Josh and Briella. To have that time together - first on Josh's wish and then Briella's wish - is just a miracle that I will forever be grateful for.