Through the Eyes of a Child
- Chelee-Mark Finch
- Oct 28, 2021
- 6 min read
"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14
Have you ever looked at a child and wish you could see what they see? It is well known that children view the world differently than adults. During times when life seems hard, even impossible, try and vision it through the eyes of a child. It will give yourself a refreshing new glimpse of the world. Children are authentic and have so much innocence. They indulge in amazing laughter and tears of pure joy. Every person is viewed as a potential friend. They only exert positivity. Everything is new to them, and they foreshaddow these new moments with great anticipation. Children believe in themselves, and they believe they can be anything they set their mind to. They have great imaginations, and no one can tell them that it isn't possible to achieve their dreams. They believe in their dreams and that is all that matters. Children also don't seem to care what other people think of them. If they want to sing the wrong words and off key at the very top of their lungs, they will do it; and they will believe they are the best singer in the whole world. They may believe they will even be the next big pop singer with a #1 hit. What age is it that we stop believing like a child? What age is it when others seem to crush our childhood dreams? Who says we can't continue to have the heart of a child and the attitude they portray? Wouldn't life be simpler and more positive. Wouldn't life be simply amazing? Try it. Try to see life through the eyes of a child. Sing like you have a #1 hit. Dance like you are a star. Find joy in everything around you. See the miracles that God creates every day. "In the eyes of a child, the world is beautiful, and miracles happen every day."
In my last blog post, Kalli had gotten home after major tracheal reconstruction surgery. Kalli was physically doing well, and her strength came back faster than anticipated. She went to the cardiologist the end of October 2006, and much to everyone's surprise, her RVH (Right Ventricular Hypertrophy) and her pulmonary hypertension had completely resolved. Also, there was no longer evidence of a PFO (heart murmur). The tracheal surgery corrected all of this, but the doctor reminded us that for all of this to be corrected in 6 weeks, was nothing short of miraculous. God continued to work miracles on Kalli, and this was proof. The main challenge continued to be eating by mouth. She had extensive speech therapy for this. Mark and I introduced many different tastes into Kalli's mouth, but she would do anything she could to not eat by mouth. She would rather we put her feedings in her feeding tube. Her sister Bailee seemed to have the best luck and we would coax Bailee into feeding her when we could.
Kalli had a repeat bronchoscopy in November 2006. Her airway was normal size for her age. They did discover that one of her vocal cords was completely paralyzed and the doctor did not have much hope that Kalli would have a very loud voice. He said it would make her slightly more at risk for aspiration, but she should be able to adapt. During this trip we got to return to the NICU to visit. It was surreal going to visit staff versus our little Kalli. We also met up with Kalli's primary nurse Julie and she was so amazed to see Kalli and her progress.
November 20, 2006, we celebrated Kalli's 1st birthday with family at our home. At one year of age, she weighed slightly over 12 lbs. The day was very emotional as we reflected on all Kalli, and our family had been through in a year. Many tears were shed, and we thanked Jesus for preforming a miracle on both Kalli and on me. Mark decided to give me a ring on this date. It was a beautiful 3-stoned diamond ring and he told me it represented hope and life. He said that a year ago he could have lost both Kalli and I and he wanted to give me something to commemorate me on Kalli's birthday. Unexpected surprises are the absolute best. We put something in the local Foster County Independent in honor of Kalli's 1st birthday. The following is what we had printed.
Kalli Suzann Finch
Happy Birthday on November 20!
As your first birthday approaches, we reflect on this past year and cannot help but smile. You have come so far. Kalli, you have had to endure more in your first year of life than many do in a lifetime. Through it all you have persevered. You are an inspiration and a true miracle. Than you, Kalli for helping us appreciate the little things in life. God bless you, Kalli Girl, on your 1st birthday. We love you so much!
Love,
Mommy, Daddy, Justine, & Bailee
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years passed and it was great to be able to spend it as a complete family of 5. She started to say Da Da and some other sounds. She still was not able to crawl or walk but she was able to scoot on her butt. We went to Minneapolis for New Years and Kalli had another bronchoscopy completed with news that she did not need to return for another one. Her ENT, Dr. Lander, said that Kalli was a miracle and his greatest success story so far. God continued to work his wonders on Kalli every day.
The end of January 2007, Mark and I took a trip to Jamaica with the encouragement of our family. It was an amazing trip, and it was so much needed after the year we had. My mom and dad took all 3 girls and while we were gone, Kalli learned to crawl. This was a huge step developmentally. We also incorporated some simple sign language as Kalli's verbal skills were still quite delayed. Her reflux started to act up and she was started on medication for this.
June 2007, we got Kalli into a specialized feeding clinic in Grand Forks. We called it the baby psychiatrist. She confirmed what speech therapy had suspected all along, all Kalli's eating issues were psychological. We extensively worked with them and were able to send videos via e-mail instead of returning to Grand Forks weekly. She gave us things to work on with Kalli, and much to our surprise, they were working. We discovered that Kalli had an oral aversion due to having so many tubes placed in her as a baby. She associated anything orally as bad. We also discovered that Kalli preferred salty and sweet things. Her favorites foods quickly became evident; popcorn, french fries (especially from the Hiway Drive-in), potato chips, and Hershey chocolate. She continues to love and nearly live on these today.
Kalli learned to walk at around 20 months of age. Once she started walking, there was no stopping her. She had a constant wheeze, especially when she exerted herself (still has this today). She has not required an inhaler, only nebulizer treatments when she gets ill. She was in and out of the hospital for repeated pneumonia and dehydration over the years. Up until the age of 10, she would end up in the hospital at least 5-6 times a year. She has not needed to be hospitalized since 2016. Kalli had her feeding tube permanently removed in March of 2008 (2 1/2 years old). We were so thrilled with this, but it also meant that we had no way to hydrate Kalli when she became ill. As I said earlier, this caused her to be in the hospital for fluids on numerous occasions.
Kalli has always been small. Her 16th birthday is fast approaching. She is only 4' 11" tall (she likes to claim she is 5" even). She still only weighs around 84 lbs. In January of 2018 she had to go back to Dr. Lander in Minneapolis as she was having significant wheezing and airway issues. We were anticipating bad news but hoped for the best. It turned out that her paralyzed vocal cord was collapsing in her airway, especially as she slept or was significantly relaxed. Dr. Lander was able to remove a small portion of the vocal cord and it has significantly improved her breathing. The original tracheal reconstruction site continued to look amazing, and he did not feel her tonsils needed to be removed. Once again, God worked miracles on our Kalli girl.
This child has endured more in her 15 3/4 years than most do in a lifetime. She has never once asked "why me." She has never once thought she was different or behind her peers. She chose to play volleyball up until last year. All she has ever wanted is to be part of a team. She thoroughly enjoys following Cardinal sports and basically any North Dakota high school sport. If you ever see her at any games, you will see her loudly cheering. She doesn't care what others think of her loud cheerleading. She enjoys it and you know what, so do I. We were told Kalli would never have much more than a whisper due to only having one functional vocal cord. She has once again proven the medical doctors wrong. No one will ever tell Kalli she can’t, or she won't. If they do, she will prove them wrong.
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