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Amanda's Story, Part Two (By Her Parents, Raymond And Corinthe Tackett) by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Tuesday, May 4, 2004
Rated "G" by the Author.
Another peek into the lives of the Tacketts: retired parents Raymond and Corinthe, and their adult daughter, Amanda Lee, who is severely disabled physically and mentally.
Since we last met, we have mentioned about our daughter, Amanda Lee, and all her problems, and how we have managed to take care of her and her needs. Amanda, as you may recall, was born mentally handicapped, but other than being late, she did all the things kids her age did, but then, at the age of nearly three years, she got sick with encephalitis that severely damaged her, and now she is no longer the same. She is now totally dependent on our care, and she will never get any better unless God sees to it.
Sure it is hard living life as we do. We have to constantly be on our guard because one never knows when Mandy will get sick. She is prone to serious respiratory illnesses that have put her into the hospital, and several times she has managed to stop breathing. She also had an abcess in her stomach that went into flesh-eating disease, and she nearly died from that; and now she has nice, healthy surgical scars tattooing her stomach. Her stomach looks like a war zone due to all the surgical scars on it; and it is a ghoulish testiment to what she has had to endure. She was in the hospital for nearly five months from that, and it was a miracle that she even SURVIVED! This happened when she was twenty six, two years ago, and we still have awful nightmares about it.
Sometimes we wonder why we even manage to take care of our daughter and her many needs; but we love her, even though she ISN'T perfect. She is still a beautiful young lady, and she has such a happy personality about her when she isn't sick. She brings out the best in people when they see her, and people realize just how fortunate they really are. They could have been like our daughter; even WE could have been like her; but by the Grace of God, we AREN'T, and we are indeed grateful; but if there is anything her health problems have taught us, it is that there are so many people who have it so far worse than we will ever have it, and she has managed to survive the most incredible of odds over and over again; and if she can go through hell just to stay alive, then so can other people. Compared to a lot of what people go through, their trials are NOTHING, and people ought to fall on their knees and thank the Good Lord Above for the blessings that He has bestowed on them!
Another way we manage is that we have good insurance. If we didn't we couldn't afford to give Mandy the care she so desperately needs, and we would probably end up living in the poor house. We also have friends who help us, and of course, our church, who also help out whenever our financial burdens get the better of us, and frankly, I don't know HOW people withOUT insurance manage to get medical care..that is, IF they can!
We also have a support group made up of parents who are in situations similar to ours; and you wouldn't believe some of the horror stories we have heard! Some of the stories we have heard are unbelievably tragic! Yet we all share a common bond; and that is we have children who are severely disabled and require much in the way of medical care; and we have learned to lean on one another when things get sticky, like if one of the kids gets sick unexpectedly and ends up in the hospital for whatever reason it may be. As an example of one of the more tragic stories, our friend, Pete Rose (don't laugh; that IS his name!) and his wife, Carole, have a son, Tyson Blake, who is battling a brain tumor; and right now he is pretty sick. He is two years old, and he has had to battle for his tiny life ever since he was but a few months old; and the parents have been absolutely devastated. He had a seizure recently and hit his head; and ever since (going on two weeks now), he has been in a coma; there is no indication as to whether he will ever wake up; or if he DOES, if he will wake up damaged or not. It is really a sad situation for this young couple, especially since little Tyson IS their first child!
We get together every month and talk about what is new with our families; and if worse comes to worse, we spend a lot of time in prayer or in tears as we talk about the latest medical crises involving our kids; and we realize that we aren't alone, and as bad as we may have it, there are alwayas others who have it so much worse, such as with the Rose family and their little boy, Tyson. Right now things don't look at all good for Tyson, and it's been an emotional strain on all of us.
Rovella is a beautiful woman with a cold heart whom blames herself for an unfortunate old family secret that is literally ruining her life. This secret impedes a gorgeous woman from having happiness in her childhood, and throughout her life. Dark sec
