HOPE FOR A MIRACLE
A sign is hanging above three-year-old Skylar Maxson's bed.
It's been there since she entered Riley Children's Hospital in May
with an inoperable brain tumor known as a diffuse pontine glioma.
The sign, printed in black on a white sheet of paper, simply reads,
"Where there is great love, there are miracles."
Miracles are certainly what Skylar's family is hoping for these days.Skylar's grandmother and adoptive mother, Connie Maxson, Monticello, is still in shock over her little girl's rapid decline in health due to the tumor.The afternoon of May 15, Connie said she recalls Skylar was sitting on her lap and had just hopped off when it became clear something wasn't right."When her feet touched the floor it was like the floor disappeared. She was dazed. And she had been walking and dancing around 30 minutes before it happened," said Connie.By the time Skylar could be transported to Riley from White County Memorial Hospital, she had lost the ability to walk and talk, Connie said. Things went from bad to worse when Skylar developed breathing and swallowing problems as well.
"It's a whole different life now," Connie said. "She was always smiling, just her happy little self. She put my face in her hands and said
'Mommy, I love you.' That's the last time she talked to me."
Amid the heartache hope remains, and her family holds fast to the fact that Skylar is entirely healthy save for the debilitating tumor. However she has already endured more than 30 radiation treatments, and the side effects of the steroids she takes to keep the tumor and resulting swelling from harming her brain."The doctors at Riley said only God
could give Skylar another day," Connie said
Although Connie herself is not in perfect health, she said she'll spend whatever energy she has helping Skylar fight her sickness.
"I don't have time to get sick because she's dying and fighting. I'll fight for her as long as it takes and if she gets too tired, I'll do it for her.
You just don't give up. You don't give up."
This page is about Skylar's Spirit
it's to tell you of a beautiful child
Who was our bouncing bundle of energy
who daily sang and danced all the while
Then one horrible night in an instant
all that was Skylar's joy was taken away
She can no longer daily sing and dance
but in Skylar's Spirit she can still play
All of her favorite things are around her
like her rainbows, her flowers and such
In the springtime we'll welcome the butterflies
all of these beauties she enjoys so much
With the summer nights come the fireflies
oh how sweet Skylar loved chasing them round
We will take her outside to see them light up
and in her face again the spirit will be found
Skylar is our beautiful little princess child
who sings and dances in her own special way
With all of the love in her twinkling eyes
it shows in Skyler's Spirit she can still play
