Graduation!

Ricki is graduating from High school! It has been exciting to see Ricki take each challenge she has been faced with and completed each challenging course with grace and determination. 

In her High school career Ricki has had 2 brain surgeries,  which came with Traumatic Brain Injury side affects.( Finding it difficult to be in large crowds, constant headaches, memory loss, difficulty in processing, and a miraid of other side effects..). Ricki's left vocal cord had also become paralyzed and it was difficult to hear Ricki speak.  She went through a surgery called a vocal cord re-intervention. They moved the vocal cords closer together and she sounds so great no one knows one of her vocal cords is paralyzed.  Two tumors were growing on her face one above her lip and one on her cheek. The one on her lip was growing so she opted to have surgery for their removal.  The next challenge she faced was a Spinal Cord surgery to remove yet another tumor. Prior to that surgery she was dealt with losing her balance and strength in her legs causing her to have frequent falls - but she was determined to dance in her ballroom dance team and  also be a part of the Miss Cache Valley Teen Pageant. During all these surgeries she developed chronic migraines that did not respond to normal treatment. In addition to all that her body had gone through she began having non-epileptic seizures. For almost a year she experienced 1-2 seizures an hour. The following year They went down to just several a day and now for the past 6 months she has been almost seizure free. As she was beginning to get the seizures under control the tumor in her brachial plexus tumor had grown to the size of a grapefruit and she began experience severe pain and to lose feeling and the use of her left hand and arm. So....she had yet another surgery.  With each surgery there is always a lot of effort to regain any lost ability and as usual Ricki was awesome in her efforts to regain the motion in her hand and can again play simple songs on the piano. It seems she just doesn't have much of a break and currently she has another tumor in her left chest at the level of her aortic arch which has begun to cause a great deal of pain. I am amazed at her ability to move on with her life. She has this amazing strength and ability to find reasons to smile  Some of her reasons to smile are her family, serving others, her faith and determination, and of course anything that sparkles or is Disney will always bring a smile to her face. 

Ricki has definitely successfully completed each challenging course she has had to face through out her High School career. We are humbled by the many who have helped her complete the challenging courses. Her family and extended family have always been right by her side. She has had loving and patient  teachers. Amazing friends that have been there for her. The youth organization in our church have been amazing and made sweet efforts when she was faced with each surgery. And we would be ungrateful if we did not mention the many doctors and nurses that have done an amazing job getting Ricki through the medically complex situations she has  experienced. 

So Ricki's graduation is truly a celebration of not only Ricki's accomplishments but the many who have helped her along the way.