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Reposts: Ronee' 's Story: The Don't Give Up Kid and A Question of Courage: Ronee' 's Story Continued by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
Two of my very favorite stories I have done here at the den; I am also going to repost several others soon. Stay tuned for those.
~~Karen Lynn. :)
I.
Ronee' 's Story: The Don't Give Up Kid
This is a story about a little girl. The little girl's name was Ronee' Le-Anne Reaux, and she was 9 years old. This particular little girl had a lot of heartbreak and hardship in her young life; because of it, she was forced to grow up a lot faster than most kids her age.
For starters, Ronee' was born premature and had a lot of problems with her breathing. She wasn't expected to survive, but somehow, she did. (She was the second of twins; her twin weighed 2 pounds, and Ronee' weighed just 1 pound and 3 ounces at birth.) At the time of her birth, she was born in a tiny little community in southern Louisiana, in the heart of Louisiana's Cajun Country.
If this wasn't bad enough, her birth parents, upon learning that their child was not expected to make it, abandoned her while she lay in the hospital, fighting for her life.
Once recovered from her earlier problems stemming from her earlier than expected birth, the infant, now nearly 3 months of age, was put up for adoption; she was then adopted by a family in Tennessee shortly thereafter, along with another infant, a little boy of about the same age.
Despite her premature beginnings, Ronee' grew to be a rather unusual little girl, for it was found that she was intelligent and showed signs of being gifted. When tested, it was found that, indeed, that she was gifted--very gifted, to be more precise.
Ronee' excelled academically, but her health was another matter. She had ongoing breathing problems, and she was found to have allergies and asthma; and was allergic to many different items. She was also prone to severe breathing problems that often put her into the hospital. More than once, she was rushed to a nearby hospital, gasping for breath.
As she grew, she seemed to be over her earlier problems; but she continued to be bothered by her asthma and her allergies. Still, despite it, she had a good attitude, and she tried to live as normally as she possibly could. But it was hard when she had to go to the emergency room on a regular basis.
At the age of 4 1/2 years, Ronee' developed a new health concern. She started having pains in her joints; and she often felt feverish and sick; but her parents dismissed it as "growing pains" at first. But after a particularly bad episode, Ronee' was taken to her pediatrician, and he suggested that she be looked at by a specialist specializing in diseases of the joints. The rheumatologist then examined her carefully, and after he did his tests on her, it was found that the little girl now had the first symptoms of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. At the time she was diagnosed with the arthritis, Ronee' was five years old.
She would now have to walk with the help of forearm crutches and leg braces--and, for longer distances, she would have to use a wheelchair. She would also have to have medications to help control pain and inflammation in her joints.
At the age of 6, she had more breathing episodes that put her into the hospital, and she also had appendicitis that resulted in emergency surgery. At the age of 8, on her birthday, she had suffered a stroke that left her paralyzed.
But even after all that, Ronee' recovered; and she continued to make amazing progress, astounding both her doctors and family.
Now 9 1/2 years old, Ronee' continues to amaze all who come in contact with her. Despite her physical handicaps she is a very happy-go-lucky child who loves life; and she doesn't let her problems overwhelm her. She has an amazing attitude, and people have dubbed her as being "The 'Don't Give Up' Kid" because of her courage. She has a lot of friends, and she does very well in school. (She is due to start the fourth grade in a few weeks. She is one of the youngest in her grade.) She also loves to sing, and shse has a natural ability to sing well. Her desire in life, at the present time, is to be a country/Cajun singer. (She has performed at many festivals, and she has even sung with some of the biggest and brightest names in country music, including her favorite singer, Loretta Lynn!) She is also very active in her church, and she is in the children's choir at her church.
Ronee' may have been through a lot in her young life, but she is also a bona-fide living miracle. She has been through so much in her life; yet, she still continues to triumph over the greatest of odds. She is an inspiration to all who meet her, especially to other young disabled kids like herself, because she has proven to them that, if they are given the opportunity, they, too, can triumph over their problems and lead a (somewhat) normal life.
II.
A Question of Courage: Ronee' 's Story Continues
Ronee' is still managing to amaze people whenever they see her. She continues to defy the odds.
At nearly the age of 10 1/2, Ronee' is now just about to end school (in fact, today is the last day of school for her), and in the fall, she will enter the fifth grade. She has consistently gotten good to excellent grades in all of her classes, and she has continued to win awards for her writing and spelling skills. She has just learned that she has passed the fourth grade with flying colors.
Perhaps the best news of all: tomorrow starts the first day of summer vacation; she won't return to school until the day after Labor Day, in September. She will then enter the fifth grade. This means no more getting up at 4:30/5:00 in the mornings to soothe stiff, achy joints before she goes onto the bus when it comes to pick her up. She can sleep in as late as 8 or 9 in the morning, which is fine with her (excepting on Sundays; she must get up that early to go to breakfast and then church).
She is also serious about her music career. She still wants to be a country and Cajun music performer, and in a few weeks, she will be performing at several Cajun and country music festivals around the South. She is still singing, and she is still playing her accordion. And, thanks to a recent appearance on "Star Search" earlier in the year, undoubtedly, more people will want to hear this young songbird sing her Cajun-style traditional country music.
Her health has its ups and downs. While her asthma and breathing, as a whole, has improved markedly, she is still somewhat plagued by allergies, and she continues to struggle with the pain associated with her having systemic-onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Her doctors think she will need surgery on her one knee within a few months, but Ronee' is determined to put it off as long as possible; she wants to wait until school starts up again. Summer is the busiest time for her. She is still puttering around on her forearm crutches and leg braces, and she will use her wheelchair if her knee or joints are especially bothersome. She knows the limits of her own body, and she is careful not to overdo it.
For the most part, Ronee' is still the happy-go-lucky child, but she is quickly heading towards adolescence. She is now wearing a bra, even though she has "nothing up front" to show for it, and she is wearing clothes geared for the older girls; she is shying away from "little girl" clothes. She is letting her hair grow out again, and it now falls to below her shoulders. It is still very wavy and luxuriously blue-black in color, and it is still very thick; but she will put it up into a ponytail if the weather is hot enough. OR she will cool off by swimming in the family swimming pool, where she swims like a little fish. (She loves to swim because it is so beneficial for her arthritis, and afterwards, she can always move around so much easier.) At the age of 10 1/2, Ronee' is still noticeably small for her age: she looks to be about the age of seven or eight. Yet she still refuses to let her smallness get to her, and she is determined to make the best out of her situations regarding her health or her height.
Already she is sporting a healthy bronze tan tone to her skin, and her friends who don't tan as easily are jealous of her natural dark beauty. She does wear sunscreen when she is out of doors, to protect her skin from the sun's rays; but she still manages to pick up a glorious tan. Her Native American Indian, Cajun French, Spanish, and African-American heritage show up well in her beautiful skin color.
Ronee' is looking forward not only to performing or being with her family or her friends: she is also looking forward to August, for August means camping for her. She will be attending Camp SteppingStone, which is a camp for children with arthritis; and it is put on by the local chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. At camp, Ronee' loves being with other kids wh suffer the same problems she does, and she doesn't feel so alone or out of place. And, perhaps best of all, she can also be with Nicole Aldape, who is her best friend. She and Nicole are together a lot anyway during the school week, but they are more so during camp time. She will attend Camp SteppingStone for a week.
Ronee' is certainly a busy young lady; and she feels that if she IS busy during the summer, she will forget about her health problems for a while. It IS hard, though, as every day, she is reminded of them; still, she is determined to overcome them, and live out her young life as normally as possible and enjoy being a kid who now has summer vacation to look forward to. She also has her "half-birthday" party to look forward to. On June 26, she and Johnny will have their birthday party instead of in December because their birthdays happen to fall on Christmas Day (Ronee') and the day after (Johnny). Friends, family, and relatives will converge at the Sandusky household for a big birthday blowout, and cake and presents will be commonplace, as will laughter, music, adn overall kid-style silliness and antics.
What an exciting summer it is going to be for this young lady teetering on the edge of adolescence!
Karen my niece's baby was premature and the doctor took it for dead. Left it in a closet most of the night. But the baby wasn't dead. Someone found the baby alive. This story reminds me of my nieces plight. Her little girl is doing fine now. And guess what? My niece got paid real big because of that mistake. She and her daughter are set for life. hugs G
Princess Geneveive has a wonderful home, with humans who love her. She and her humans try to talk to each other but Genevierve dosn't speak human and her humans don't speak dog. Genevieve often wishes she had another dog to talk to.
One day in th
I.
