Page 7 - RVO What Women Want May 2016

to come see her one last time.
“I don’t know how many times they
told us she would not make it through the night, so we were very fortunate to have her,” Allen said. “Then we started a whole new journey with chronic kids at home.”
The first four years of the children’s lives, they were at Arkansas Children’s Hospital more than they were home, it seemed, Allen said.
Now the twins are in first grade at Heber Springs Elementary School and doing well. They receive speech, phys- ical and occupational therapies outside school.
Kenneth was diagnosed with cere- bral palsy, “but if you saw him, you’d never know,” Allen said. “He is what I call my walking, talking contradiction to science.” She said Kenneth amazes his neonatologist with his progress.
He has a feeding tube and a shunt in his brain to drain cerebral fluid to his stomach. “That’s probably our biggest issue to date,” she said of the shunt.
She said Kenneth is a happy child who skips everywhere he goes.
“Cognitively, he’s fine. He’s got de- lays, but he can learn. We have to adapt his learning skills. He has straight A’s; the school does a lot of work with him. He is the highlight of everybody there. He is a ladies’ man to the core, and he knows it,” she said, laughing. “He is the most loving child; he just loves to give you hugs and see you smile.”
Chloe has a feeding tube, too, and both children sometimes use oxygen.
“She is a brilliant child; she has been reading the Bible since she was 3,” Allen said. “She loves ’80s rock music — she is her dad’s child. She loves Star Wars and Disney princesses.”
Chloe has said that when she grows up she wants to be a princess or a teach- er. “I see her being a doctor or some- thing,” Allen said. Kenneth has his heart set on a career as a police officer or a garbage-truck driver, which Allen said is fine with her. She said she has learned not to hold her children back from their dreams just because of a diagnosis.
Although Kenneth’s challenges can be noticed physically, Chloe’s are hid- den, Allen said.
“Her issues are sensory and anxiety issues,” Allen said. “It’s heartbreaking because it’s easier to explain something you can physically see.”
EILISH PALMER / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Candyce Allen pushes her son, Kenneth, on a swing in the park as he looks at his twin sister, Chloe. Born at 25 weeks, Chloe weighed 1 pound, 5 ounces; Kenneth was 1 pound, 10 1/2 ounces. They also had a sister, Cara, who never left the hospital and died at 10 1/2 months. Allen said Chloe is “the best reader in her grade,” and Kenneth is a charmer who has all his teachers wrapped around
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his little finger.
Allen volunteers at Arkansas Chil- dren’s Hospital and is on the NICU Family Advisory board, as well as sev- eral hospital committees. She serves on a safety and quality committee and gives input to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Board of Directors.
She also talks with hospital staff about what it’s like for a child to die in the hospital.
The couple started an award this year in memory of their daughter. The Cara Allen Diamond Award is given bimonthly for outstanding patient- and family-centered care, whether it be a housekeeper or a doctor, Can- dyce Allen said. A family-advisory committee chooses the recipient. The diamond represents the children’s birthstone.
In addition to her volunteerism at the hospital, Allen also works as much as possible with her husband at their business, Allen Furniture. They took the business over in 2012 from Greg’s father, Max Allen.
“To this day, we say we would never
divorce, because who is going to [take care of the children] on their own?” she said with a laugh. “He is the per- fect partner for me because he’s very easy-going, and I’m wound tight.”
Allen tearfully said the joy that be- ing a mother brings her is difficult to describe.
“It’s kind of hard to put into words,” she said. “Have you ever just looked at your child and wanted to cry because they are so beautiful? I’m amazed at what all they can do, and they teach us something new every day. They make us so proud because neither one of them should be here by any right.
“But I know they are going to leave a legacy, just like Cara, that will inspire other kids, inspire other families, in- spire other mothers, and to me, that’s a big deal. When people hear our story, I don’t care if they know our names. They will hear: ‘There were these trip- lets, and they were given no chance.’ Just know it’s possible. Anything’s pos- sible, and when I look at them, that’s what I see.”