Family member profile - Rickelle

Since Rickelle was the focus of an entry a few days ago, I figured that I should introduce you to her.

Rickelle was born with micro-cephaly (small head), and with a condition that I can hardly pronounce yet alone spell, that makes the outside of her brain smooth rather than convoluted like a normal brain. This causes severe mental retardation. Her mother did lots of drugs while pregnant which compounded Rickelle's birth defects. When Rickelle was just a few months old, she was found by her grandmother on the floor, with a head injury, and left for dead. Rickelle's mother was nowhere to be found. They think she layed there for two days. Rickelle came to us through the foster care program.

She is unable to eat anything by mouth, so he gets everything through a g-tube implanted into her stomach. It looks like a spigot sticking right out of her body. She has the mental capacities of a newborn infant. She does not protect her own airway. A couple of years ago, she had a tracheotomy tube installed. This has helped her health tremendously. She requires oxygen full time.

When kids don't eat and use their mouths like normal kids, they don't lose their baby teeth as quickly. Rickelle is 8 years old and still has some baby teeth. The dentist is watching them closely so that we can have them pulled before they fall out and choke her. A couple of years ago, Rickelle was life-flighted to Indianapolis. The medics intibated her and when they did they knocked out four of her upper teeth in the front. Now she has a permanent tooth growing in their place. Yes, a single giant adult sized front tooth, and it is smack dab ion the middle of her mouth. The first thing people think of when they see it is of the cyclops.

Rickelle's ears work, according to the specialists, but she does not hear all of the time. It's like her brain is not interpreting the information correctly all the time. Her right eye did not develop an optical nerve so she sees only with her left eye.

She has a great smile that melts hearts. She has already outlived her life expectancy by four years. We know that she is not going to live much longer...that does not make it any easier though. We will give her the best possible quality of life while she is with us. I will upload some pictures to an online photo album and the post the link.