‘Take Thabie directly to the emergency room’

After a week of no improvement, Thabie’s mother scheduled an appointment later that week at Children’s Medical Center. In a strange twist of fate, Thabie’s twin sister, Wandisile, had broken her glasses. So she, along with Thabie and Soneni, headed into see their eye doctor. Because the twins have all their medical appointments together, Soneni decided to have Thabie’s eyes checked alongside her sister’s, and this is where Thabie’s story really begins.

Her optometrist noticed fluid behind Thabie’s eyes. After asking a few questions about her general state of health, Soneni was told to, “Take Thabie directly to the emergency room. Do not go home. Do not stop anywhere else. Go directly to Children’s. We are going to call them ahead of time and let them know she is on her way.”

Soneni listened, and Thabie was quickly diagnosed with an anaplastic ependymoma, more commonly known as a brain tumor.

Soneni said, “Different physicians kept walking into Thabie’s room asking, ‘What made you decide to have her eyes checked?’ and I kept telling them that it just sort of happened! In reality, I was relieved when her eye doctor found the fluid. I thought it would be drained and she would start to feel better. I didn’t panic because I knew if something was wrong it could be fixed.”

Thabie had surgery on March 29 and was in the hospital until April 10. In May she had an “all-clear” MRI, so A Special Wish Foundation — Dayton started working on Thabie’s wish: a trip to Panama City, Fla.

Thabie said, “My parents had always talked about what it was like in Panama City, and I’d always dreamed of going there. Plus, I wanted to swim with dolphins. While there, I got to get in a really big pool and hug and kiss the dolphins. And then I got to swim with the dolphins. It was the best trip I’ve ever had!”

Soneni said, “She was over the top excited and overwhelmed with pure joy. When Thabie was granted her wish, it all felt so unreal. You see things like this happening to people on TV. Our entire family couldn’t believe a local foundation was granting such an amazing wish to Thabie.”

Soneni said, “We’ve all learned so much. Life can change in a heartbeat. It not only changes your child, but it changes you, your family, friends, co-workers. It truly changes everyone around you. People have a tendency to say, ‘Let me know if you need anything,’ and most of the time I would respond with, ‘No. We’re OK. Thank you.’ We were blessed to have family and friends who would simply do something for us. They would bring a meal, help us clean. They just ‘did.’ We didn’t have to ask, and when you’re going through something like this, you realize how important these acts of kindness truly are.”

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Soneni continued, “Being positive helped us a lot. Thabie was such a positive force of energy, it was easy to remain upbeat. Throughout the entire time she was sick, even though she was in pain, she was determined to play soccer. Another important aspect of the process was open communication. We discussed everything within the family. This, along with our faith, helped everyone retain the positivity needed to get through something like this. I encourage others going through a similar situation to be positive. And believe me, I know it’s tough. But it truly does help.”

Soneni was asked about A Special Wish Foundation’s role in the community and she stated, “They play a huge role. They are able to give so much unexpected help to families. Help you may not even realize you need at the time. To the affected child and their families, having their wish granted means so much. During this entire process, we often felt like none of this was deserved, but Thabie had been through so much, and ASW helped us understand that she did deserve to have her wish granted.”

Thabie is feeling much better these days and looks forward to going back to school when a new year starts this month. She will continue to receive MRI’s every six months for the next two years. However, for now, she has fallen right back into her normal routine and has a happy life.