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Author Topic: My Little Lizy  (Read 3231 times)

Offline MikeCoulombe

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My Little Lizy
« on: April 15, 2017, 09:50:59 PM »
She never designed or built a champion stunt plane or competed at the national level.
She did follow daddy to the flying field, she did fly the beginner pattern, she was always happy to be around all our friends at the field.
She was a huge part of my modeling life.
She did these things and she deserves to be remembered here.
So if you want to continue reading I have put together a short summery of her short life.

Liz was skinny.
She didn’t start that way, in fact she was a chubby baby and toddler.
Then around the time she started school, she sprouted and slimmed out.
She played sports, took up gymnastics, joined air cadets, followed daddy to the model airplane field, all the while appearing to be a healthy young lady.
Well nothing could be further from the truth, the truth was that Liz suffered from a very rare genetic disorder called Mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalopathy (MNGIE) for short.
This disorder caused her to be “skinny” she started having trouble digesting she was eating but still remained skinny.
Through her teens she ate and ate but still, she was skinny.
Through her twenties, it was more of the same, Skinny Liz.
It was around her twenty seventh year that she started having more severe problems, it started with indigestion all the time constant abdominal pain and discomfort, loss of feeling in her feet and hands, all the while getting skinnier.
That is when the doctors started drawing diseases out of a hat it seemed, first they said she just wasn’t eating enough, then it was chrones, followed by celiac disease.
They prescribed diets and pain killers, they sent her to a gastrointestinal specialist, no unusual findings, still loosing weight she was down under a hundred pounds.
Then a new specialist suggested feeding through a tube in her stomach, so off she went to Winnipeg where she was operated on and a feeding tube was inserted directly into her intestine, initially she rallied and started gaining weight, so after a little while they shipped her home to our local hospital, where she seemed to be doing better, so we made arrangements for home nursing care, that went well for a little while.
She seemed to be holding her own but not making any headway, still in constant pain and when the pain would get to be too much we would cart her off to the emergency ward.
At one point the emergency doctor refused her treatment and told her to do a walk in at the clinic the next morning.
I feared that the local medical system was failing her needs, some had the attitude that she was just looking for more pain meds and she had a common eating disorder.
After all she was so skinny.
I took it upon myself to start calling her specialists and pleading for the help that it appeared she was not getting locally.
She was shipped back to Winnipeg, now she was under 80lbs, they decided to install a feeding system, where she would get all her needed nutrients directly in to her blood, well this seemed to work and she gained 10lbs now hitting 85lbs. But her pain issues continued to worsen, her bladder shut down and it filled with liquid, much pain, in goes a catheter, now she is having trouble walking because of the loss of feeling in her feet and legs.
In constant pain. So much pain. Unbelievable pain.
She finally saw a neurologist, who “knew” right away what her ailment was, "knew" without a doubt, just needed some more tests.
Well it seems this revelation came too little too late, she called crying in so much unbearable pain and no-one was helping. That evening her husband arrived at the hospital to visit and demanded that they manage her pain better, this was Friday November 11th 2016.
On Sunday I decided to drive her mother to Winnipeg where she planned to spend the week with Liz.
I drove back to Sioux because I had to work Monday.
Monday morning I got a tearful call from Vicki informing me that the doctors have run out of options and all they could do for Liz was manage her pain and keep her comfortable.
I did get back to Winnipeg in time to hold my little girl in my arms and tell her I love her, she became unresponsive, her breathing slowed her kidneys shut down, her lungs started filling with fluid, we stopped the tube feed, we sat holding her hands listening to her shallow breathing watching her O2 levels drop.
Liz, my skinny girl left this world on Wednesday November 16th 2016. She was just 30 years old.


Offline Jim Carter

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Re: My Little Lizy
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2017, 12:49:58 PM »
This was wonderful story and I ask that you please accept my condolences for your loss.  I have no other words to offer other than to say, I believe she is doing well, seated with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!!  So to you and your family, Be at Peace!

Offline john e. holliday

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Re: My Little Lizy
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2017, 08:50:43 AM »
I my self can't imagine what you have been through and like Jim says,  now she has no more pain and in a much better place.  I am so lucky the Lord gave me 4 healthy youngsters(1 boy, 3 girls).  Now I have healthy grand kids to watch grow.  I don't know if I could endure what you have been through.  Thanks for letting us know. :'(
John E. "DOC" Holliday
10421 West 56th Terrace
Shawnee, KANSAS  66203
AMA 23530  Have fun as I have and I am still breaking a record.

Offline DanielGelinas

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Re: My Little Lizy
« Reply #3 on: April 19, 2017, 04:46:41 PM »
Very sorry for the loss of your daughter Mike.  My sincere condolences.

Dan

Offline Bill Adair

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Re: My Little Lizy
« Reply #4 on: April 19, 2017, 07:49:47 PM »
Mike,

Very sorry to hear about your daughter passing.

Unfortunately, at least 3 of us on this forum have lost older children, and it is particularly painful when they suffer terribly.

My best wishes to you and your loved one's.

Bill
Not a flyer (age related), but still love the hobby!

Offline Dan McEntee

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Re: My Little Lizy
« Reply #5 on: April 30, 2017, 07:23:02 PM »
   Dear Mike;
    Just have to offer my sincerest condolences to you and your wife for your loss. I would just say that after all that suffering, Liz has earned her place in heaven, and you and your wife also for doing your best for her.  May she rest in peace, and I hope you all find some peace in your lives after this valiant struggle.
    Best Regards,
   Dan McEntee
  Florissant, MO
AMA 28784
EAA  1038824
AMA 480405 (American Motorcyclist Association)


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