In loving memory of Reid Dale Miller 12/14/01-5/24/02
Randon Speakman Miller 7/19/06-9/23/06
Reid was born on December 14, 2001 after a perfect delivery and birth. A few days after we brought him home, I had the mother's intuition that something was wrong. At that time he had a terrible rash and a poor appetite and he seemed so pale to me. I had been crying non-stop all day, but it seemed everyone was reassuring me he was fine. I finally called his doctor's office that night and the pediatricain on call wasn't very helpful, so I ended up taking him to the emergency room. There they discovered his platelet count was very low and we were sent to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital immediately. His platelet counts continued to drop and no one could figure out why. After 3 months of seeing many doctors, running every test known and spending one month intubated in ICU (due to complications from a liver biopsy), we went to the Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia (CHOP)for help and a second opinion. There he was diagnosed with complete bone marrow failure- never seen before. All his blood counts eventually dropped and his marrow was filling up with scar tissue. He went to CHOP for a bone marrow transplant. His transplant was on 4/22/02 and his 4 year old sister, Reagan, was the donor. His 8 year old sister, Riley, was the official hand holder. Reid did great during the transplant. He became a new baby who took off developmentally and had a smile that could melt a room. His new marrow worked beautifully and we were about to be discharged home when he developed a rare heart complication. At this time we still aren't sure what happened but he left us here on earth on May 24th 2002. The website provided us a means to update daily and turned out to be a demonstration of the care and love shown to us by so many. It visually demonstrated and allowed so many to see the power of prayer and to realize that no matter what happens, we always have hope.
On January 18, 2004 after much prayer and a huge leap of faith, we were given an angel here on earth, Reese Addison Miller. She has brought so much healing although never a replacement for sweet Reid.
In December of 2005 we were very suprised (but thrilled) to find out we were expecting another baby. On July 19th at 35 weeks, I went to Vanderbilt for an ultrasound. My pregnancy had been going well and all previous ultrasounds looked reassuring that everything was ok. I had noticed his movements slowing down and immediately after this ultrasound they decided to take him quickly by c-section as they could tell something was wrong with his blood flow. He was born at 1:20 in the afternoon, had to be immediately intubated and transfused. They knew at birth that he had the same condition as Reid. It was the most shocking and heart breaking news to hear. Once again, this is our journey of loving and caring for the newest angel in our family. We hope he will be able to have a bone marrow transplant soon and his biggest sister Riley is a perfect sibling match.
Sadly, that day never came. Randon had many setbacks and went home to be with his big brother and Jesus on September 23, 2006. It was later revealed that Randon indeed had Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Our hope would be to discover the faulty gene responsible for breaking our families' hearts and to know weather our precious daughters could be carriers for this never seen before genetic bone marrow/leukemic condition.
Thank you for visiting our page and reading our story. This continues to be our thoughts and expressions on our lives of becoming survivors after enduring heartbreaking loss. Please sign our guestbook.
Turn the music player above off before watching this precious video from the Alex Lemonade Foundation
Journal
Friday, November 14, 2008 9:17 AM CST
Happy Friday!! We are doing great around here and I think my attention deficit has kicked in so much that I haven’t sat down and updated recently.
I really needed to be picking up around here so I found a good diversion. At the moment it actually looks like a bomb went off in the den. Fall is rushing right through and at times it has felt we skipped straight to winter. I’m way behind on the Christmas Card picture. I have not even taken the picture yet and not sure when we are going to have another warm day that I can have everybody home.
The girls are just as busy as ever and I’m still amazed with how our time can get so consumed. I probably sound like a broken recored, but knock on wood, wow! High school is going great. I am so proud of the woman and young adult Riley is becoming. She seems to be making great decisions and using good judgement. She is such a joy to be around and I just wish we had more time together. She really got into the political season this year…I mean really into it. She now says she really wants to have some type of career in politics. I personally think she would be great but not so sure it’s hyped up to be much more glamorous than it is. She is learning now that when your candidate doesn’t win, you don’t abandon your convictions and policies..you fight even harder for them. I’ve tried to teach her not to be conservative or liberal just because her parents are but to find out what each believes and what it really means. We have had many civics lessons around here and I think I have both Riley and Reagan hooked on talk radio! It’s been fun actually but I am glad that the whole political campaign is over. I am very proud of my community for electing two great guys that I am proud to call friends….one returning to the state legislature and one to Congress.!! Many congrats to Brett Guthrie..I’m excited to have him fighting for us in what could be a difficult Washington!! Both Jim DeCesare and Brett Guthrie treated our family with much kindness in Frankfort and provided the girls with a great experience! We wish them both the best as they continue to serve.
So, we are just as busy as ever. Dale is still traveling a lot and me running from place to place while trying to squeeze this last year at home with Reese into some good memories for her. I can’t even think about going off to school next year..I’m definitely not ready. Dale is already asking me if I’m thinking of returning to the working world…hmmm…not ready to think about that one yet either.
In the picture, we have a long way to go, but in the smaller picture we are doing better with not sweating the small stuff and trying to keep our priorities in order. Dale and I are going on an anniversary trip next week. To celebrate our 17 years of marriage, we are going New York. I’m getting really excited. It’s been 7 years since we took a trip just the two of us. (I came back with a great souvenir…Reid Dale Miller) No, that won’t happen this time, don’t worry mom! Dale and I have always dealt with our grief differently. I definitely wear it on my sleeve more and he has an amazing abiltily to stay looking ahead and not behind. But everyday I have thoughts of what could have been and extreme feelings of hurt and disappointed…always looking for outlets to help get to the next moment, the next day, the next week. Gettting geared up for the Christmas season that is upon us. So much heartache for many this year. I hope here at our house we can keep it simple and find away to reach out to others who are hurting and hoping!
Note: The foregoing information was
authored by the patient, parent or guardian, or other parties who
are solely responsible for the content. Such announcements or their
content are not necessarily endorsed by CaringBridge, Inc. or any
sponsoring agent. This information does not confirm that anyone
is or was actually a patient at any facility.
