Sarah Smiles: A Mother's Story

By Christina Jane

In 2001 I was working for the state at the department of human services when I met a child that would need me as much as my family and I needed her. This story is based on my personal journey through adopting a little girl, Sarah who has a smile that lights up a room. I talk about all the hoops that I needed to jump through in order to adopt Sarah in the first place as well as the battle I have gone through in getting Sarah the mental health treatment that she needs in a state where mental health care for children is hard to find. Sarah has cerebral palsy, she was born drug affected, has fetal alcohol syndrome, failure to thrive, along with extreme behavior problems and then she was diagnosed with Mitochondrial Diabetes as well as Mitochondrial Myopathy (muscle weakness), Encephalomyopathy (Brain and central nervous system disease), lactic acidosis (buildup of a cell waste product), and Stroke-like episodes (partial vison loss, or other neurological abnormalities) or MELAS as it is also known. I am hoping that reading about the journey that I have been on with a special needs child might in some way help others on their own journey even if it is to know that they are not alone.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1503020347
• ISBN13: 9781503020344
• Release Date: October 2014
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 218 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"