UPDATED: Dying baby's parents pen bucket

[oneh2obabe]

When most people think about a bucket list, they have many years to accomplish the tasks, but a five-month-old girl in Texas doesn't have an entire lifetime, she has just months.



Avery Canahuati was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy in early April, a genetic disorder that attacks spinal neurons and progressively debilitates muscle function. She was given only 18 months to live. So after a few days of sitting in shock and crying, parents Laura and Mike composed themselves and Mike started a blog written from Avery's perspective.

"Imagine you've been diagnosed with an incurable genetic disease and you are told you will not only lose your ability to walk and move your arms, but you will dies between now and the next 18 months. What would you do?" reads the blog.

They started it to make the best of the short time Avery has and cherish every moment with her, reports ABC. They are also looking to create awareness of SMA and are using social media to do it.

The bucket list includes a lot of things most children will experience with their parents while growing up, such as hugging their parents, swinging on a swing set, riding a bicycle and going to a sleepover. It also includes things that may be harder for Avery and her parents to accomplish, such as going skiing, skydiving and running with the bulls. Avery's dad even has a section of things she will want to do with him such as playing golf and going to a Houston Texans game.

So far since starting the blog, Avery has already accomplished a lot. She has gone to a water park, flown a kite, was on TV and got her first kiss. The blog playfully discusses Avery's progress as she ticks off items on the bucket list among other things.

"O-M-G, a B-O-Y totally kissed me yesterday and he is soooooooo cute," reads the blog post on the day Cooper, another boy with SMA, kissed her. "My mommy and daddy said it might be the best kiss since Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in The Notebook."

Her bucket list has certainly struck a cord with a lot of people and in three weeks has more than two million page views plus more than 100,000 likes on the Facebook page.

"You are such a beautiful little girl and I want you to know that I am praying for you and your parents," writes Julie Van Zandt in the comments section.

"What a blessing to wake up and read your inspirational story," reads another comment. "While my heart breaks for all touched by the pain of your SMA; it also swells with joy that God chose to give you such a wonderful mommy and daddy."

SMA affects about four in 100,000 people and in most cases the person gets it from a defective gene from both parents. The Canahuatis hope by spreading awareness of SMA, other families won't have to go through what they are experiencing.

Avery's dad told CBS, "I refuse to think that my daughter will die in vain."

Photos from Avery's blog
http://averycan.blogspot.ca/2012/04/ain ... aabay.html

[Libelle]

OMG that is so sad but inspiring at the same time. I could not get though reading it without crying. The love for your child is the greatest love that God has ever given us.

[fvkasm2x]

OMG that is so sad but inspiring at the same time. I could not get though reading it without crying. The love for your child is the greatest love that God has ever given us.

Way to ruin a touching story by mentioning an imaginary being up in the sky. Wouldn't this innocent baby be the kind of person "God' would prevent from suffering?

[Libelle]

The Lord givith and the Lord taketh away. Job 1:21

[fvkasm2x]

When it comes to BS, big-time, major league BS, you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims, religion. No contest. No contest. Religion. Religion easily has the greatest redonkeydonk story ever told. Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!

But He loves you.

- George Carlin

In any event... I noticed this story is "front page" on CNN.com. It's getting quite the publicity.

[Libelle]

To each their own. I did not mean to offend by including His name in my post.

[oneh2obabe]

UPDATE: Avery's parents announced their daughter passed away suddenly Monday afternoon. Her father, Mike Canahuati, wrote on the blog one of her lungs collapsed and she went into cardiac arrest.

"I immediately performed CPR on her and was able to bring her back to live, but only for a brief period of time before she passed away after arriving at the hospital," he writes. "Avery's passing this quickly came as a complete shock to all of us, as she had just been given a thumbs up at her last doctors appointment only three days ago."

In one final post Avery writes to her Mommy and Daddy that she has gone to take care of other family members who have passed and she hopes when people think of her they will think of others who are diagnosed with SMA.

[Bagotricks]

...and if they spent the limited amount of time with the baby instead of taking the time to write up a bucket list, create a blog and publish it (and do media interviews as this was viral) - they would have had more memories with their child.

It seems even after the babies death it was important to blog about it. Was there a "Like" button beside the babies death announcement? Uhg.

Nice priorities. Tacky.

[The Green Barbarian]

...and if they spent the limited amount of time with the baby instead of taking the time to write up a bucket list, create a blog and publish it (and do media interviews as this was viral) - they would have had more memories with their child.

It seems even after the babies death it was important to blog about it.

Nice priorities. Tacky.

BOO

[Bagotricks]

Boo to my opinion?

Hooray to the parents blogging about their kids wishlist when they obviously (hindsight) had a very limited amount of time?

Obviously that list was for the parents and "their" bucketlist...

[The Green Barbarian]

Boo to my opinion?

Hooray to the parents blogging about their kids death?

Boo to calling these parents tacky. With someone obsessed with "class" this was very unclassy.

[Bagotricks]

Parents spent time at the computer on blogger/facebook instead of with their kid with a terminal illness with a short death clock a-ticking, blogging about "their" wants and needs. 'Informing strangers".

Kid dies in under a week. Blog about it.

Damn - shouldn't have spent all of last night posting all those links and photos to the blog eh?

Maybe they should have entered the baby in beauty pageant as well?

But what am I saying - I'm the tacky one here.

[Oxl3y]

But what am I saying - I'm the tacky one here.

Glad you realize it.

[Bagotricks]

Hahahaha.

A baby died! Everyone stop using their brains!

You have a week to spend with your loved one. One week.

Do you spend time with them (aka quality time) or spend half the week writing a flipping blog about it to serve YOUR OWN needs?

My baby has 6 months to live - oh no! (insert like button here)

[strwbrrydvl]

Boo to my opinion?

Hooray to the parents blogging about their kids wishlist when they obviously (hindsight) had a very limited amount of time?

Obviously that list was for the parents and "their" bucketlist...

Yes, it was the parents bucket list of memories they wanted to have with their child. Memories that they only had a very short time to make. Memories that needn't be rushed if their child was able to live a long, healthy life.
Blogging their daughter's life and the bucket list was a way to help them come to terms with her impending death and celebrating all the markers in their child's short life. Babies sleep a lot, I'd bet that spending time documenting their daughter's life online didn't take away time that they should've spent with her. Their story may have helped other parents facing similar circumstances with their own children.
If I was ever in their shoes, I certainly wouldn't do a public blog like that..To each their own though and I don't see anything wrong with what they did!