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Join me and others to become a Friend of Janna's where united we can give this wonderfully captivating six-year-old child vision for life.
A Little History
Janna Noel came to the Clark family when she was only nine days old. When the foster-care representative called and asked if they would take her into their home as a foster child, they excitedly agreed. They met the Department of Children & Families Child Protective Investigator the next day at the local hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Janna Noel came to the Clark family when she was only nine days old. When the foster-care representative called and asked if they would take her into their home as a foster child, they excitedly agreed. They met the Department of Children & Families Child Protective Investigator the next day at the local hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
I'm Debbie Dykes, and I'm a good friend of Janna's family. My husband and I first met Janna's adoptive parents Darryl and Sherrie Clark while attending a foster-parent training class. After introductions, we began a long and close relationship with the Clark family as we had many shared experiences as foster parents. We've had the honor and joy of watching Janna grow from a tiny newborn to a vivacious, beautiful little girl. We've held her, rocked her, celebrated her birthdays, and had lots of fun times and conversations together. If I had to use one word to describe Janna, it would be "joyful." Her laughter and liveliness are infectious.
Diagnosis: Several Types of Glaucoma
When Janna was about one month old, we all began to notice a cloudy film over her eyes. She didn't respond to our smiles nor did she react in any way when we placed our hands close to her face. She just stared straight ahead. We knew there was something terribly wrong, so Sherrie took her to a pediatric ophthalmologist who diagnosed her with glaucoma, and a little later, she was diagnosed with several different types of glaucoma. Before Janna was three months old, she went through her first eye surgery, and within the first seven months of her young life, she had gone through five eye surgeries. She was so brave and came through each one of them like a trooper.
When Janna was about one month old, we all began to notice a cloudy film over her eyes. She didn't respond to our smiles nor did she react in any way when we placed our hands close to her face. She just stared straight ahead. We knew there was something terribly wrong, so Sherrie took her to a pediatric ophthalmologist who diagnosed her with glaucoma, and a little later, she was diagnosed with several different types of glaucoma. Before Janna was three months old, she went through her first eye surgery, and within the first seven months of her young life, she had gone through five eye surgeries. She was so brave and came through each one of them like a trooper.
Six Years Later
Janna is now a fun-loving six-year-old little girl. Her life has consisted of numerous eye drops, eye exams under anesthesia, surgeries, and doctor appointments way over and beyond the average child. But Janna's perception is that she's no different than the average child. In addition to being affectionate, loving, compassionate, referred to as an "old soul," exceptionally smart, and hilariously funny, she feels there is nothing she can't do. She wants to be a writer, an illustrator, and editor, a bus driver, a doctor, a police officer, and join the military. She loves riding her bike like any little girl her age. Losing all of her vision will unleash an indescribable devastation upon her young life.
Janna is now a fun-loving six-year-old little girl. Her life has consisted of numerous eye drops, eye exams under anesthesia, surgeries, and doctor appointments way over and beyond the average child. But Janna's perception is that she's no different than the average child. In addition to being affectionate, loving, compassionate, referred to as an "old soul," exceptionally smart, and hilariously funny, she feels there is nothing she can't do. She wants to be a writer, an illustrator, and editor, a bus driver, a doctor, a police officer, and join the military. She loves riding her bike like any little girl her age. Losing all of her vision will unleash an indescribable devastation upon her young life.
Glaucoma's Devastation on a Young Child
Over the years, glaucoma has robbed Janna of most of her vision, but her parents have managed to maintain some of it. They work with and around her limitations, but it doesn't stop all of our hearts from aching when we see her inability to do some things because of her low vision. Her parents have accepted the fact that Janna has to get within a few inches from the television screen to watch her favorite shows like Dora the Explorer and hold a book right up to her face to read, but it doesn't stop everyone from wishing she could see the entire screen or page like most other children.
For the past six months, though, everyone involved in Janna's life has noticed Janna's vision decreasing rapidly. To watch her walk by her mother a foot away from her and yell her name, wanting to know where she is; to hear her teacher report that Janna goes up to her [teacher's] desk and talks to her, yet she's not near her desk, breaks our hearts. Worse is to imagine her passions--vibrant colors, dressing pretty, drawing, reading, taking pictures, and "dancing a jig"--being ripped away from her already limited activities.
Over the years, glaucoma has robbed Janna of most of her vision, but her parents have managed to maintain some of it. They work with and around her limitations, but it doesn't stop all of our hearts from aching when we see her inability to do some things because of her low vision. Her parents have accepted the fact that Janna has to get within a few inches from the television screen to watch her favorite shows like Dora the Explorer and hold a book right up to her face to read, but it doesn't stop everyone from wishing she could see the entire screen or page like most other children.
For the past six months, though, everyone involved in Janna's life has noticed Janna's vision decreasing rapidly. To watch her walk by her mother a foot away from her and yell her name, wanting to know where she is; to hear her teacher report that Janna goes up to her [teacher's] desk and talks to her, yet she's not near her desk, breaks our hearts. Worse is to imagine her passions--vibrant colors, dressing pretty, drawing, reading, taking pictures, and "dancing a jig"--being ripped away from her already limited activities.
Here's What's Happening Now
We have discovered that Janna is in jeopardy of losing the rest of her vision completely without the necessary intervention. Her glaucoma has intensified with a vengeance. Her eye pressures have shot up excrutiatingly high. The higher the eye pressure, the more damage occurs to the optic nerve. The more the optic nerve is damaged, the more vision she loses.
Recently her local glaucoma specialist referred Janna to Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (BP) several hundred miles away from where the Clarks live. She felt that Janna's condition was rare and atypical. Also, there are no doctors in this area who can address the extent of her glaucoma and specifically for a six-year-old girl. Fortunately, her doctor at BP is very familiar with Janna's condition and knows exactly how to confront it.
BP recently performed surgery on Janna's left eye as well as ran numerous tests. The surgery went well, but the findings were disturbing. Even with doing everything the local doctors have instructed her parents to do, it hasn't been enough. They just learned that Janna's condition had been worsening. Her eye pressures were extremely high, and as a result, Janna's eyes had grown so big that they were like over-inflated balloons with no elasticity. The eyes showed extensive scarring from past surgeries. Calcium deposits have filled in the crack on the "windshield" of Janna's eye, preventing her from seeing out of that crack as well as keeping the doctors from seeing into it.
Abnormal blood vessels are running rampant, increasing her eye pressures more. Oddly enough, even those abnormal vessels don't act like abnormal vessels because they are leaking protein. What's frightening is that the doctor at BP thinks the abnormal blood vessels growing on top of her eyes are related to the heart and a vascular problem.
Her doctor can only work on one eye at a time because of the emotional trauma that can occur to a child of this age if both eyes are patched up at the same time from the same surgery. And the doctor can't tackle the right eye until the left eye is stable.
We have discovered that Janna is in jeopardy of losing the rest of her vision completely without the necessary intervention. Her glaucoma has intensified with a vengeance. Her eye pressures have shot up excrutiatingly high. The higher the eye pressure, the more damage occurs to the optic nerve. The more the optic nerve is damaged, the more vision she loses.
Recently her local glaucoma specialist referred Janna to Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (BP) several hundred miles away from where the Clarks live. She felt that Janna's condition was rare and atypical. Also, there are no doctors in this area who can address the extent of her glaucoma and specifically for a six-year-old girl. Fortunately, her doctor at BP is very familiar with Janna's condition and knows exactly how to confront it.
BP recently performed surgery on Janna's left eye as well as ran numerous tests. The surgery went well, but the findings were disturbing. Even with doing everything the local doctors have instructed her parents to do, it hasn't been enough. They just learned that Janna's condition had been worsening. Her eye pressures were extremely high, and as a result, Janna's eyes had grown so big that they were like over-inflated balloons with no elasticity. The eyes showed extensive scarring from past surgeries. Calcium deposits have filled in the crack on the "windshield" of Janna's eye, preventing her from seeing out of that crack as well as keeping the doctors from seeing into it.
Abnormal blood vessels are running rampant, increasing her eye pressures more. Oddly enough, even those abnormal vessels don't act like abnormal vessels because they are leaking protein. What's frightening is that the doctor at BP thinks the abnormal blood vessels growing on top of her eyes are related to the heart and a vascular problem.
Her doctor can only work on one eye at a time because of the emotional trauma that can occur to a child of this age if both eyes are patched up at the same time from the same surgery. And the doctor can't tackle the right eye until the left eye is stable.
What Janna Needs
Janna needs aggressive treatment if her sight is to be saved. This requires many tests and surgeries for both eyes as well as the necessary tests performed for her heart and vascular system.
Her experiences with her eyes and heart have demonstrated that if she doesn't get this treatment at Bascom Palmer, she WILL go completely blind, and this doesn't include any cardiovascular issues that must be addressed as well. The necessary treatment is unavailable locally. Her BP doctor said, "We have a long journey ahead of us, and we've only just begun. I do see an end, but we have a lot of work to do before we get there."
This journey requires frequent trips back and forth to Miami to get the medical attention she needs. The expenses involved are much more than what her parents can pay as a large family of seven. But they know there is no choice. Their little girl's vision is too important to them. Janna loves life too much, loves seeing the pretty flowers, loves animals and her baby dolls, and loves her family, which include her mommy, her daddy, and four protective older brothers.
Janna needs aggressive treatment if her sight is to be saved. This requires many tests and surgeries for both eyes as well as the necessary tests performed for her heart and vascular system.
Her experiences with her eyes and heart have demonstrated that if she doesn't get this treatment at Bascom Palmer, she WILL go completely blind, and this doesn't include any cardiovascular issues that must be addressed as well. The necessary treatment is unavailable locally. Her BP doctor said, "We have a long journey ahead of us, and we've only just begun. I do see an end, but we have a lot of work to do before we get there."
This journey requires frequent trips back and forth to Miami to get the medical attention she needs. The expenses involved are much more than what her parents can pay as a large family of seven. But they know there is no choice. Their little girl's vision is too important to them. Janna loves life too much, loves seeing the pretty flowers, loves animals and her baby dolls, and loves her family, which include her mommy, her daddy, and four protective older brothers.
How You Can Help
Janna has a chance to continue seeing and maintaining the vision she currently possesses because she is finally in the right place to receive the care she needs as well as address her cardio and vascular issues properly.
Please click on the DONATE button at the top of this page and become a friend of Janna's. Join with us in this fight against glaucoma that has tried to ravage Janna's vision.
We decided to call this journey "Friends of Janna" because we want it to help other children as well. Any leftover funds will be donated to a scholarship to help those parents who have children with glaucoma who need to travel to a distant specialty hospital to acquire that help.
Thank you for your time, for caring, and for giving.
God bless,
Debbie Dykes
Janna has a chance to continue seeing and maintaining the vision she currently possesses because she is finally in the right place to receive the care she needs as well as address her cardio and vascular issues properly.
Please click on the DONATE button at the top of this page and become a friend of Janna's. Join with us in this fight against glaucoma that has tried to ravage Janna's vision.
We decided to call this journey "Friends of Janna" because we want it to help other children as well. Any leftover funds will be donated to a scholarship to help those parents who have children with glaucoma who need to travel to a distant specialty hospital to acquire that help.
Thank you for your time, for caring, and for giving.
God bless,
Debbie Dykes