When I first became a mother, I did not know what I was doing or where I was going. First I fell in love like any girl, then I got accidentally pregnant. My boyfriend did not want to be a father so he abandoned me. I took the responsibiilty and raised the child on my own. When she was 5 month old I met Michel while he was working for an NGO in Burundi. We were in love and he accepted to be a father. We got married and lived in different places in Africa before we moved to the Netherlands.
Not long after we moved to the Netherlands, at the age of 6 she started having seizures. They found out she had a brain tumor. Our life changed, we needed to keep her onder control in hospitals. We travelled to many different places all over the Netherlands. We are lucky the health system here is more advanced than in Burundi or other places we have lived in.
Our daughter kept on growing, aware of having medication every day and learning to live with her condition which meant always having anti-epileptic emergency spray in her or in my own bag. We like to move around with bicycle like any family in here in the Netherlands and there was a time when it became difficult to go because Loris fell many times from her bicycle. So, on medical advice we got her a bike with 3 wheels as it was safer to move because she sat very low, so even if she would fall it would not be hard. And believe me, she still suffered from seizures but this time the bike saved her a lot.
Things have changed now. For about 3 years she does not have seizures during day time, only when she is asleep. We actually heard that her brain tumor has become smaller which is great news. She has grown and for many years I did not know if she would make it to her 18th birthday after experiencing so many seizures, with comas at schools, home or on the streets. But we never gave up and we kept hoping that things will change one day and that she will feel better.
So on the 30th July 2019 she turned 18 years. We were very happy and celebrated her birthday. We had planned a day full of suprises with a swim and nice dinner outside our home. But we knew that to cycle there on her special bike is a nightmare for her. So as an extra special birthday present we made a deal with her to go back on a normal bike with a few extra precautions such as a helmet to protect her head. She was so happy, it was the best birthday present ever according to her. Of course she got more other presents, includding the trip to Marmaris in Turkey, but this one was her number one. We went to swim and at the end of the day we went again to dinner, all on a normal bike. We enjoyed being together and watch her smile.
Her 18th birthday will be unforgettable.
Happy birthday Loris, MERA loves you!
Peace,
Eliane
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