It is hard to believe that Katana turned 6 yesterday. It seems like just last week we were fighting with doctors about what treatment she would receive when she was born. Telling them over and over and over again that we wanted any and all life saving treatment for her. They kept telling us she wouldn't make it, and if, by the Grace of God, she did live she would have multiple disabilities. I finally got angry and told them I didn't care what challenges we would face she was our child and we wanted her to have a chance to live a full life. I told them they didn't know what God had planned. I know raising a disabled child isn't easy, I had worked with disabled adults before Katana was even born, so I went into it knowing what challenges we might be facing. We knew our lives would never be the same, just like with any other birth things would change. The doctors told us so many times that she was to early, there was a good chance she wouldn't live no matter what medical support we gave her. Then she was here, she was so tiny and fragile. She was hooked up to so many machines, IV's and wires covered her tiny body. The first time I saw her it hit me that she might not make it. How could someone so tiny fight the battle that was in front of Kat? It was a battle that looked impossible for her to win. Her doctor in NICU was amazing, he gave me strength when mine ran low, he held me up when Kat had bad days, and he always had faith in her. I can't even tell you the amount of prayers I said in those first months of Kat's life. I knew the only way Katana would pull through was with the help of God. The saying "Don't show God the size of your mountain but show your mountain the size of your God" kept running through my mind. I would sit beside Kat's bed in the NICU and visualize God carrying Kat through all of it. I knew she was truly in God's hands. Even three months later when Kat was coming home the doctors didn't give us much hope. They told us she would never walk, talk, be potty trained, or be able to go to a normal classroom in school. I knew better, Katana was on a mission, God had big plans for her we just had to wait for him to show us what they were. July 4th, 2006 Katana gained her independence, she came home from NICU. We had been told the day prior that something had shown up on the MRI that had been done, but they said they were just going to watch it and we would come back in a few months for another MRI to check on it. They didn't give us a name or any idea as to what was going on, just that something was wrong. It wasn't until October of 2006 that we learned Kat had hydrocephalus. At that point we didn't even know what hydrocephalus was, let alone what it would do to our lives. We were referred to a neurosurgeon at that point and we were told that Kat would need brain surgery to live. Since March of 2006 a shunt has controlled our lives. It is a constant worry if it is working correctly, being sick can never be just being sick, we always have the fear in the back of our minds that something might be wrong with the shunt. She has had two brain surgeries, which I know is truly amazing considering a lot of her hydro friends have had many more than that.
Six years after the scariest time in our life I look at the beautiful little girl sitting next to me and I know that God handed us a miracle to raise. God choose us to look after one of his special angels. I can't even begin to describe the things Katana has taught our family. We never take a moment for granted, we know all to well how precious life is and how fast things can change. Who would have thought that one little girl could change so much? I am so blessed that she calls me mom. I can't wait to see what the future holds not only for Katana but for our whole family.
Katana the day she was born. 16 weeks premature. Weighing 1lb 7.5 oz
Katana today. A beautiful, healthy, happy six year old little girl.
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