Brooklyn’s Village

Little did I know that moving to Columbia,Mo, three years ago; would not only involve a new job, but also a new daughter. I began a new job in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in June of 2017 and in July met who would later become my youngest daughter. Brooklyn was born July 22 at 30 weeks premature and only 3 lb’s. Aside from being premature she was also born with a very rare massive oral teratoma (benign tumor) that encompassed her entire mouth and protrude outward. Due to the massive teratome, Brooklyn had no airway and had to have a tracheostomy to provide an airway. As a result of being premature, Brooklyn also suffered from severe brain bleeds resulting in hydrocephalus and leading to the placement of a shunt to relieve pressure off her brain. In the first 8 months, Brooklyn went through four major surgeries trying to reduce the teratoma and countless other surgeries and painful procedures; all of which was without any biological family to love and comfort her, she had been abandoned. The nurses, physicians, therapists, and staff in the NICU became her family. After a few months it became clear that Brooklyn would need a family. I prayed asking God to bring this sweet girl a loving family that would be able to care for her complex medical needs, one that would advocate for her, but most of all love her unconditionally. The more I prayed the more I felt convicted that I was asking God to do something that he had equipped me to do. So after 240 days in the NICU, Brooklyn came home.


Brooklyn came home on March 19, 2018 and required 24/7 nursing care. At eight months old Brooklyn was severely delayed unable to hold her own head. Brooklyn’s prognosis was concerning due to the significant brain bleeds she had and the damage that was done as a result; as well as, the unknown future of her tumor. I was informed by Brooklyn’s medical team to expect a possible future diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy possibly leaving Brooklyn unable to walk and requiring 24 hour care for the rest of her life.


I am happy to report Brooklyn has once again beat the odds and is a very smart  active toddler. She has far surpassed what anyone thought she would be able to do. Brooklyn is also learning sign language and doing very well with it and currently signing over 100 words. Sadly, the tumor has continued to grow rapidly and in spite of countless surgeries to resect the tumor, it  continues to grow back faster with each surgery. As a result of the continued growth and the vascularity of the tumor Brooklyn is now bleeding and in severe pain. Last week Brooklyn hemorrhaged and required emergent intervention to stop the bleeding. As a result of the procedure, Brooklyn sustained a stroke losing mobility of the right side. As you can imagine this has been devastating given all of the hard work she did to be able to walk. She counties to work hard and is expected to recover with intense therapy and time. Brooklyn and I are scheduled to travel to Boston on Monday July 6th to hopefully get treatment for this tumor. I’ve been told that she could potentially be there as little as 3 days or up to a month if surgery is a solution. Although, I do not know what the future holds for Brooklyn or our family, I do know that God created this beautiful life and we are so thankful to have been chosen to love and care for this child. Brooklyn is a true inspiration and a perfect example of God’s love and goodness.