by Kelly
On June 17, 2004 my 13 year-old daughter, Marci, woke up complaining of pain in the right side of her head. By the time I realized I needed to call 911, she suffered a massive stroke on her bedroom floor, in my arms. She was flown to Johns Hopkins where we were informed she had a large tumor in the center of her brain, an anaplastic astrocytoma, and it had ruptured. What a shock. The night before she was jumping on the trampoline, showing off her favorite backflips and swimming with a friend in the pool. Looking back now there were signs but nothing significant enough to warrant a brain tumor. After 2 surgeries to remove the tumor and relieve fluid on her brain, she was left in a vegetative state. After 3 months in the hospital with no hope of recovery, we took her home to care for her during her final days. She earned her Angel Wings on May 8th, 2005 which was Mother's Day that year.
