I mentioned on Friday that I was out of town for a Funeral and thought today would be a perfect day to tell you a little bit about my cousin Lisa. She lived her entire life knowing that each day that came could be her last. She didn’t have a sudden illness, cancer or many of the other challenges that the other women we have met through blogging have. She was born with an extremely rare disease and was not expected to live to adulthood, let alone to age 35.
As children we were together often. I would go and spend an entire day with her roaming about the pediatric unit that she often called home. I vividly remember her wanting to go down to the playroom and I’d have her hop onto her IV stand and I’d wheel her down the various ramps and hallways that led there. We’d play in her room, my mom would do her hair all fancy in big bows. The funny thing is that this was “normal” for us. We didn’t realize that not all children had cousins that spent so much time in the hospital or that her life was constantly on the edge. It was just Lisa and my parents made sure I spent time with her.
Things were pretty scary for a while when we were about 9 (she’s only 6 months older than me) and the doctors did not hold much hope for her. I knew this from tidbits of adult conversations that I picked up on although I do not think any of the adults thought I understood what they were talking about. This was life with Lisa.
She pulled through though, she always did. Through the years there were good times and bad times and though she always had zillions of pills to take each day she tried to live out her life as much like any other kid as she could. There came a point where even though she still required a lot of healthcare, she seemed to be healthy for a longer period of time. This continued through our 20’s. Sadly as we entered adulthood our paths drifted apart as I lived a few hours away and began my family while she was going to school and pursuing various other interests.
All seemed relatively OK until the last few years. She had been struggling on and off and her oxygen levels were difficult to maintain. Ever susceptible to any illness she caught a very nasty bug not long before my twins were born. She had not been married long, had new healthcare and lived in a new area and the doctors had to do a crash course on her disease to figure out why her body was responding the way it was. Although she recovered from that illness it seemed to take a deep and taxing toll on her body and a steady stream of hospital stays, illnesses and operations. Until the final illness which resulted in complete physical shut down.
Her death, although not a shock, was a little surprising to me. Even though I had been told all my life how sick she was, she always got better. Kind of leading to a false sense of invincibility. I don’t believe that she ever took life for granted though! She lived each day trying to find the truth and asking tons of questions. She was at peace with her faith and always wanted to know more as well as making sure that everyone else knew the truth. She simply lived to do the right thing.
In her death she leaves behind her husband of 3 years, parents and three brothers. Her husband loved her and cared for her beautifully and dutifully until the very end regardless of how difficult things were! In her passing is reunited with her baby, Israel, and I cannot imagine the happiness she now has! She is, possibly for the first time in her life, pain free, healthy and truly happy.