Lizvet (Lizzie)

Lizvet (Lizzie)

23 Year Old Angel

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Lizvet was born a healthy 9lb 2oz baby girl. Since the beginning she was very advanced. Walking before her 1st birthday and potty trained by 1 1/2. She was able to carry a full adult conversation at 28yrs old. Towards the end of her kindergarten year her teacher expressed concern about Lizzie’s learning abilities. That was the start of our journey. She started testing at school and said they had to classify her as mentally retarded. I was so mad and offended. So I started taking her to the Dr to run tests. After all possible testing was done they asked about our family history. My husband’s mother had passed from HD when she was only 39. Although when the conversation about her would come up his response was always “she got sick and died.” I always assumed she had cancer. So when I was unable to tell the Dr what kind, I had to go ask his family. That is when his sister told me about Huntington’s Disease. So I went back and told the Dr what I found out. They decided they wanted to do a few more test before they tested for HD. Five years later, 5 days before her 10th birthday, we got the news that she was positive for JHD. We made every effort to do what she wanted to do. She continued in regular school but was in a special class with her own aid who stayed next to he all day. Then when she was transferred to another school that was 30 miles away. This turned out to be the best thing for her. When Lizzie turned 15 we celebrated with a Quiñcenera. A Mexican coming of age tradition. This was one of her last big events she was able to really enjoy before getting too sick. This is the time that Dad started to become symptomatic. He took the test and confirmed he too had HD. She had a Mic-key button feeding tube put in. After that she slowly gave up eating with her mouth. She had two very bad choking episodes. Then she started dragging her left foot. Then she would lose her balance as she leaned too far forward. She started using a gate trainer. It help for about a year. Then she had to use her wheelchair and finally lost her ability to walk. But this still did not bring her spirit down. She had been a great support for Natalya also. Always there for baseball and dance practice. Even when she had been placed on hospice. We lived our live as they had HD, HD doesn’t have them. July 4th, 1998-November 14, 2021

About Lizvet

She did things I never thought she would. She played baseball and even joined the dance squad. We all did our best to keep her mobile. She had a infectious smile and a corky sense of humor. Everyone that had the privilege to work with her just fell in love. She loved spending time with her little sister. They spent many afternoons playing Barbies and in their playhouse. Lizzie and Natalya loved to be together all the time. They even insisted on sharing a room when there was still two other empty rooms in the house.

I wanted to thank everyone that came out to Lizzie’s ‘s services Tuesday. It was very overwhelming to see the church full. We are extremely grateful that everyone took the time to be there to support us. To everybody who helped decorate before and clean up after the reception, we truly appreciated it. Danny Rosas for the amazing food. Casa de Flores for her flower arrangements that were absolutely beautiful. Deacon Lance (Julie Velez) and Father Jorge for the church service. Hillview Funeral Chapels for making everything run smoothly. Lizvet fought long (18yrs) with Juvenile Huntington’s Disease. It was very difficult to watch her deteriorate as the years passed. Her strength and determination gave me mine. To say I will miss her is an understatement. My heart will never be the same.