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| The Campbells Alvin, Sydney,Valerie,Devin Interview by: Kadiann Addman kaddman@believersreport.com |
B.R.: You gave birth to a lovely baby girl, Sydney who was born premature and many complications followed. Tell us about that?
V.C.: At around 19 weeks of pregnancy, I began to have some bleeding. During a sonogram the doctors realized I had Placenta Previa, which is basically, the placenta does not move into the correct position and could cause serious problems to the mother and baby. At around 25 weeks gestation, I was sleeping and thought my water broke because I felt a gush of fluid. When I stood up I realized it was a complete flow of blood and I ran to the shower.
My husband and I were terrified as the bleeding gushed out for about two minutes. I remember him holding me up because I was slipping in the tub from the amount of blood…I whispered in his ear “This is it, I’m going to die,” and then I just said “Please God I have a little boy that needs me.” EMT arrived; I was rushed to the hospital and given two blood transfusions. Due to the position of the placenta, it caused a tear. Doctors informed us about how serious the condition was and that I would have to remain in the hospital for the remainder of the pregnancy to ensure my safety. Just one week later, 26 weeks gestation, in the middle of the night I experienced the same type of bleeding and was rushed in for an emergency C-section. All I remember was the panic on the faces of the doctors. They quickly said “Do not worry because she is too young to cry so we will let you know if she is breathing.” About ten minutes into the C-section, I hear these cries coming from the strongest little 2 pounder I had ever seen. Although the doctors said she was too young to cry, God had another plan. Her cry was His way of telling us “I am with you and Sydney.”
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| Baby Sydney |
Sydney was 2lbs 7oz. Sydney required breathing support for her first 8 of 12 weeks in the NICU, which caused some lung issues for her known as Chronic Lung Disease (similar symptoms to asthma). We also found out that since Sydney was so early, a valve in her heart did not close as it was supposed to. Due to this heart defect, her heart repeatedly would stop during the day. Every day that I sat by her incubator and the alarms would sound to alert nurses that she had stopped breathing I would just say “Please God breath life back into her.”
B.R.: Can you educate us a little about Congenital Heart Disease?
V.C.: Congenital Heart Disease spans across all ages, genders and races. There are many different types of the disease, but Sydney has what is called Patent Ductus Artheriosus. This is a valve that stays open in utero but normally closes at birth. Since Syd was so early it did not close and was forcing extra blood into the lungs, which then resulted in her developing pneumonia 2 times in 4 months.
B.R.: Not long after that ordeal you received further disturbing news. Tell us about the events prior to and the day you discovered you had Cancer?
V.C.: Well, right about Sydney being in the NICU for 10 weeks, she began to thrive. She was taken off all support, her heart was not stopping as much, and the doctors informed us that it was almost time for Sydney to go home. At 11 weeks Sydney’s doctor informed us that her heart had not stopped in over a week and they would give her another week and then send her home. They felt Sydney was stable. Although very nervous, we were extremely excited to finally have our family complete and put all this behind us. I left the hospital to go call my husband (Alvin) and noticed my neck was itchy. Thinking my chain was irritating me I went to the restroom to check. When I scratched my neck I found a lump. I immediately started to Google everything and found numerous connections with a lump on the left side associated with a cancer called Lymphoma. I waited a few days and went to the ER where they did a CAT scan revealing numerous enlarged Lymph Nodes throughout my chest. The ER doctor callously said “It appears to be cancer so you will need more testing done.” I left the hospital hysterical and called my husband who works at Memorial Sloan Cancer Hospital. Sloan happens to be one of the top cancer hospitals and there is even a waiting list because of the demand. This is where God is so amazing…Alvin was offered a job at Sloan by a friend 4 years prior. He was not even looking for work at that time. Since my husband was an employee, I had an appointment within a week! At Sloan they did a biopsy and I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Advanced Stage 3.
I just remember thinking “God, why would you do this to us now after everything?” I would begin the first of 12 treatments on my 32nd birthday.
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| Alvin & Valerie Campbell |
B.R.: Are you currently still receiving treatment?
V.C.: I am currently not receiving treatment. I completed on Dec 23, 2011, the most amazing Christmas gift I could ask for. On January 8, 2012, I received a “clean” PET scan and began remission. I am coming up on one year! As of now I have scans every six months as follow ups.
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| Alvin & Valerie Campbell |
V.C.: It’s interesting because when you think about “what if??” you try to imagine who will be there and often times it’s the people you least expect that are truly there for you. My husband of course was absolutely amazing through the entire process. He literally held my hand through every procedure and treatment over the course of the 6-8 months. He bared most of the weight as I was too sick to care for Devin age 3 and Sydney just 3 months old. The Lord knew what he was doing when he chose Alvin for me. Besides Alvin, my mom played a HUGE role in this process. When I had to stop working because I was becoming too sick, she was the only family member to offer us to live with her in her two bedroom apartment. She cooked our meals and watched the kids when I was too ill. I could never be more thankful for her. To my surprise, we didn’t get the out pouring from the church community as I would have anticipated, but it was ok because I serve God not man. Close and distant friends of mine came together to raise money to help with bills as well. The most humbling experience was to see complete strangers extend their hand to us. People constantly told us they were praying for us. I can go on for days about the amount of support we received.
B.R.: Outside of family and friends, are you aware of any support groups or other forms of outlet that you can advise other women to seek help from?
V.C.: I personally did not take advantage of external support groups; however, I know the hospital had a lot of information on meetings to attend. The hospital also has a system where they can connect you with someone that has gone through what you are going through. That is def a good way to keep faith.
B.R.: How has life changed for you and your family since these series of events?
V.C.: If someone would have asked me 5 years ago do I enjoy and live life to the fullest, I would have said yes. But in fact I wasn’t, I now value every moment and opportunity as if it was truly the last. I let the kids stay up late sometimes and I read them the extra book at bedtime. I stop everything I am doing to slow dance with my husband in the living room or have a cup of hot chocolate in the yard. “Things” are just not that serious to me anymore. I don’t find myself upset as much. Life is truly good!
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| Sydney & Devin |
B.R.: Going back to Sydney, she recently had surgery, How well is she thriving?
V.C.: Sydney is our little fighter. She bounced back nicely from the surgery and is gaining weight and developing typically. So far so good!
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| Baby Sydney |
V.C.: Actually originally the bracelets for Sydney were purple and had the words “Team Sydney 3/26/2011” on them. Everyone wore these while Sydney was in the NICU, and almost two years later, I still see people wearing them. We chose purple at the time because it was the color used for “The March of Dimes,” which is an organization that raises money to find medical advances for premature babies. Now the red came into play during Sydney’s weeks approaching the surgery. Red is the color for Congenital Heart Disease. A very good friend of mine handmade a bracelet for me to show support and actually people ended up wanting to buy that specific bracelet. There are many different causes that raise money for various disorders, but the closest to my heart is March of Dimes. Every year we walk with other families in support of premature babies everywhere. They have a website that accepts donations as well as gives information about upcoming walks. For the past two years we have made signs and walked in Sydney’s honor, but this year I am proud to say Sydney will walk for herself! I am sure that will be a very emotional moment, I cannot wait.
B.R.: Your story is truly inspiring. Especially to other women or families who may feel bombarded by devastating issues. Can you share with our readers the lessons you learned during this process, and anything uplifting, especially in regards to having faith through trials?
V.C.: Never in my life would I have imagined to be considered an inspiration. I thank you for those words. As a family we have had back to back devastation over the last two years, however, with that there is always a lesson learned. I think what people misunderstand is God does not always give us what we want, He gives us what we need by any means He deems fit. People often asked me “Why are you praying to God, because if He existed He would not have given you all these trials?” I admit in my darkest hours, I often replayed those thoughts of others and questioned God. I asked things like “Why now?” or “Haven’t we been through enough?” God wants us to question Him. When He created my marriage He knew the structure would be shaken, but the foundation was too strong to destroy. God gave us His Word to keep us, and my advice to anyone struggling is to hold God to His word but at the same time be faithful and patient.
I believe we went through what we did because God needs His strongest, most loyal warriors to go to battle for Him. He wanted us to be His advocates. He wanted us to inspire and give hope to families going through struggle. The Campbell Family has been put here to touch lives. While Sydney was in the hospital I remember a few people specifically saying to me “I don’t know if I believe in God but I prayed for Sydney because we have nothing to lose.” God proved to them that prayer moves mountains. When you are happy pray, and when you are angry pray. I hope and pray that my story reaches even just one person, because then what we have been through is worth it.
I thank God every day for bringing us through but I also thank him for the storm.
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