SHAYLONDON'S SHINING STARS!!!

This is the story of our friends who just lost their little girl. She was born with heart problems, and has had many operations. They have a website at Isons.org where you can learn more about the heart operations and see more pictures of her family. Please pray for them throughout the day; They need support more than we will ever know, and I know Heavenly Father is carrying them right now.

What Happened to our little girl

I will do my best to tell the story of the last few days of Annika’s life and how she returned to our Heavenly Father. Much of the early part of this is taken from accounts given by Stephanie and other family members that were present.

Stephanie and the kids were attending a family reunion in Fountain Green, Utah. Friday June 29^th, Annika was out and about in her usual fashion (high octane). She was playing with cousins, grandpas, aunts, uncles, and anyone else she could find. She was acting just as normal and active as she has been for the last 18 months. She went into the trailer to play on the beds and was there for only a few minutes when she started crying to Steph that she was “stuck".

By the time Steph entered the trailer she found Annika face down on the bed not moving. Steph tried to get her to roll over, but when she would not move, she picked her up and took her outside. Annika alternated between being completely limp and writhing, and complaining about her stomach hurting. Steph thought maybe she was over-tired because of the late nights, or possibly something she had eaten. After about 20 minutes it was decided that they should take her to the medical center in Nephi.

On the 20 minute ride to Nephi, Annika started to become less coherent. While at Nephi, Annika “coded” (she stopped breathing). The staff performed CPR and put a tube down her throat to help her breathe. They were able to revive her, but quickly realized they were in over their heads due to her heart condition and medical past. They contacted Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City and had a helicopter sent to take Annika there. There was not enough room for Stephanie to ride in the helicopter so she and my dad jumped in the car for the 2 hour drive.

On Monday (June 25) I had left with my Venture Scouts for our Super Activity of SCUBA diving in Catalina, CA and beach camping. My dad got a hold of me on Friday while they were in Nephi to tell me that Annika was not doing very well. I was able to get a ticket for 5 pm that night from LAX to SLC. I had to wait the longest 4.5 hours of my life waiting for the plane to leave. I arrived in Salt Lake at 8 pm Friday night.

By the time I got to the hospital, things had pretty much calmed down. Annika was on a respirator (a machine that helps her breathe) but seemed to be overriding it with her own breathing (a very good sign). Steph was holding up pretty well (largely thanks to my dad) but was visibly shaken. Annika was sedated and there was nothing to be done until the next morning, so my dad headed back to the reunion, and Steph and I went to the Nelsons house to stay. (Russ was a mission companion and college roommate. Without their help we would never have been able to make it through this)

That night Steph told me more about the day and the situation. The doctors believed that Annika had a “heart-block” and that is what caused the “sick” like symptoms and earlier issues. However they were concerned about possible brain damage due to the lack of blood flow and her current condition. We talked about as hard as things have been the last few years, brain damage was something we were not prepared for. We even talked about how we would almost rather loose Annika than see her confined in a body and mind more broken than she already had. But at that time we believed the chance of brain damage was slim.

The next morning we got a phone call from the hospital telling us that we needed to get there soon. We got to the hospital as fast as we could, calling my parents to get the boys and bring them to the hospital. We did not know how severe things were, but we thought if anything was wrong we needed our entire family there. When we reached the hospital Dr. Ventry told us that she had done a CAT scan the night before and the results were not good. Annika had experienced a "devastating stroke" and there was severe brain damage. The entire right side of her brain was damaged, and the left center of her brain was severely damaged. The injuries were irreversible.

Apparently when Annika experience the heart block, a blood clot (or multiple) formed and went to her brain cutting off blood for major sections of the brain (a stroke). With this type of injury, the brain starts to swell and continues to swell for 72 hours. We were less than 24 hours into Annika's injury, and already the swelling was reaching a critical state. It was just a matter of time before she would die. The machines that were keeping her alive right now would not even be able to prevent her death. There was nothing we could do to save my little girl.

Our first response was to tell the doctors that they needed to keep Annika alive until the boys made it to the hospital. They were out of cell phone range and we had no idea where they were. While we waiting my friend Russ, his wife Britney, and his father Elder Nelson (a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) came to see Annika and give her a priesthood blessing. The things that Elder Nelson said and the blessings he gave meant so much to Stephanie and I. It was at that time that I found piece with what was happening with my daughter. The experience we had at that time is very sacred and cherished by Stephanie and me.

A few minutes later Stephanie's mother and sister arrived. They started driving up from Flagstaff, Az on Friday when they heard. Not long after that, my parents, Ethan, Carter and my sister arrived at the hospital. We talked to the boys before they came into the room, and I am so proud of how my boys handled themselves. It took a little while, but they each told their sister goodbye and gave her hugs and kisses.

As a family we spent the next few hours preparing for what we knew we had to do, and getting things ready. The hospital made plaster impressions of her hand and feet. Stephanie combed and fixed Annika's hair, painted her toe nails, and cut off a lock of hair to keep. The boys picked out a blanket from the hospital for her. We all had the time to do what we felt we needed to do.

At 1:30 pm Saturday (MST) the boys left the room (their choice) and we took the tube out of Annika's throat. Stephanie held her in a rocking chair for about 10 minutes, and then I had a chance for about 10 minutes. As I held her, her breathing started to become more sporadic and shallow. I gave Annika back to Stephanie, and I sat as close as I could as we watched our little girl take her last breath. It only took about 30 from the time we stopped the respirator.

The experience was much more peaceful than I could have imagined and I am confident she was in no pain. She just seemed to "go to sleep". Annika's grandparents and aunts held her for another 30-40 minutes until we all felt like we could leave. Stephanie and I wrapped her in her blanket and laid her down on the bed.

I know there should be more but right now this is where I need to end...