Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
(Psalm 61:1-4)Psalm 61:1-4This memorial website was created to remember our dearest
Kayla Jones who was born on
December 24, 1992 and passed away on
September 22, 2010 at the age of
17. You will live forever in our memories and hearts.
I would like to encourage all of Kayla's family and friends to contribute to this memorial website by writing your favorite memories, quotes, pictures or anything to celebrate Kayla's life.
Here is my story about Kayla........
I will never look at anything in life in the same way again. Each morning, I get up and begin getting ready for the day, which usually consists of consuming plenty of caffeine and packing lunches for my three girls. But, now I only prepare two lunches. So, my emptiness begins from the moment I wake up until I go to sleep each night. At least, while I’m asleep, it feels as if God helps me to escape from reality for a little while with my dreams or to just not think at all. I seem to forget, at least while I’m sleeping, that Kayla is not alive anymore.
Kayla was my oldest child, 17-years-old, and born on December 24, 1992. The best Christmas present that I have ever received!! I still can't believe she would have been 18 this year. She was so intelligent, funny, head-strong, independent, loving and more.
She had been taking summer classes to get ahead so she could graduate early from high school this December. Along with school, she had been working at Bill Rhodes Bakery. In June 2010, she began complaining of chronic exhaustion. I thought it was due to her crazy schedule and not eating healthy. But, she also began having fainting spells, which concerned me. She has had issues with anemia in the past. So, I decided to take her to the doctor to have her checked out. The doctor did some blood work and sent her home. The next morning, at 7:45 a.m., I got a phone call from the doctor's office saying that Kayla was extremely anemic and I needed to take her to the ER. I tried not to panic, but, I got her up and off we went to the ER. Thankfully, we did not have to wait very long and after more tests were done, they decided to admit her in the hospital. She was then given 3 blood transfusions, which did get her hemoglobin back up to a normal level. However, I received a startling call from her doctor as I am sitting next to Kayla while she is resting in her room. He asked me a few times how I was doing. I said that I felt better knowing the blood transfusions had worked. He said that there were more problems other than anemia and that she was showing signs of Leukemia. My heart stopped.......I couldn't breathe for a moment....and I had to keep it together for Kayla because she was sitting right next to me. I did not want to tell her until we knew for sure. Kayla was then visited by a blood specialist and she said that her tests did look like Kayla had Leukemia. We cried, held hands and didn't know what to do. All I knew to do was pray.....and pray hard!!! Kayla stayed overnight at the hospital and the next day was transferred to Egleston Children's Healthcare Of Atlanta and admitted into the Aflac Cancer Center. It was there that her diagnosis was confirmed.........Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML).
Kayla survived her first round of chemotherapy treatment with severe side effects. However, she was able to come home for two weeks until she was admitted again for the second round of treatment. She was feeling great! She said to me many times, “I feel fine. I’m not sick. I just want to go home and be a normal teenager.” Kayla’s new energy and feelings of healthiness stopped once her last bag of chemo was finished. She slowly began getting weak, developed skin rashes and stomach problems. She was later admitted into the PICU due to low blood pressure and low oxygen levels. Her weak and frail body developed Sepsis due to no white blood cells. And, a few days later, she left this world and entered into the gates of Heaven.
I would give anything to have my precious daughter, Kayla, here with me right now. The 17 ½ years that I had with her simply flew by too fast. Please hold onto your children tight and always tell them, "I love you."
Thank you to everyone for all of your thoughts and prayers. I could not get through this difficult time without each one of you and my faith in God.
