 "Photo: The Thomas family")
On the last day of class of spring semester, the right side of Sarah Marie Thomas’ face suddenly went numb, and she lost sight in her right eye.
The Loyola University Chicago student — who years earlier was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation of the brainstem, and constantly had to deal with serious complications from the illness — ended up at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
She recovered quickly from the alarming episode and studied for finals, which she was determined to complete the following week even though her health remained tenuous.
Thomas, a psychology major from the far south suburb Joliet, completed her finals with a 3.7 grade point average for the year.
“She wanted to control this disease. She did not want this disease to control her,” said her mother, Karen Thomas. “She wanted nothing more than to get her degree.”
That wish was cut short earlier this month when Thomas, 21, died of complications due to sepsis from a severe infection related to her illness at 1:50 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet.
The Thomas family will receive an honorary degree in memory of Thomas on Thursday, Nov. 5. On this date, both a noon mass at Madonna della Strada and a reception in Piper Hall will be held.
Those who knew the college senior recall a woman who persevered in the face of illness, and selflessly thought of others when she had plenty to worry about.
After anyone helped Thomas out, she immediately sat down to write a thank you card.
“For every major and minor holiday, and sometimes just because, Sarah somehow found the time to mail us cards as reminders of how much she cared,” long time friends Kathy Allen and Stephanie Ranzini wrote in their eulogy for her. “Sarah loved sharing gifts with others, especially ones that were unique and sometimes even handmade, like personally designed clothing, foam picture frames, crayon colored pictures and homemade ornaments.”
The student was also passionate about celebrating the holidays and seeing her favorite play, Wicked, which she saw performed 15 times and memorized all the lines. During the holidays, Thomas decked out her dorm room with not one, but two different Christmas trees.
“Most people only have one Christmas tree in their entire house, but Sarah had two six-foot, fully decorated Christmas trees in her small six-foot-by-eight-foot dorm room,” said her father, Bill Thomas.
Among other obsessions, Thomas loved shoes and had 250 pairs for every outfit. She had them in every color, including neon, said Ranzini, who attended preschool through college with Thomas.
Her family and friends remember how she kept positive, and even when her disease left her plenty to complain about, she never did.
Thomas’ normal day at school consisted of going to class, returning to her dorm for rest and homework, eating dinner and giving herself 1-2 liters of saline everyday to keep herself from passing out, a side effect of her medications and medical problems.
Her health problems began with dizziness, double vision and passing out when she was 13 years old. Her family visited many hospitals, including the Cleveland Clinic and University of Chicago to determine her illness. As a high school junior, she was confined to a wheelchair.
At age 17, Thomas found out why she had so much pain.
Thomas suffered from Dysautonomia, which is a dysfunction of the automatic nervous system (ANS). The ANS monitors all unconscious body functions, including the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, metabolic and endocrine systems. Sarah was an active member of Dynakids.org, a Web site for children who suffer from Dysautonomia, and found out about Dan Heffez, Ph.D., a doctor in Milwaukee, through another member. Thomas visited Haffez to determine that her specific form of Dysautonomia was known as Chiari Malformation of the brainstem.
She had brain surgery on Monday, Nov. 21, 2005. Four days later, on Nov. 25, the 17-year-old walked again.
Her friends and family mourn her death, remembering her powerful and fun personality.
“She fought the fight,” her mother said. “There wasn’t anything that she put her mind to that she couldn’t do.”
She is survived by her parents, Bill and Karen Thomas; her brother, Christopher Thomas — all of Joliet; her paternal grandparents, James and Donna Thomas of Joliet; uncle, Doug Milosevich of Minooka; one aunt, Barbara Gans of Orlando, Flo.; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, friends; and her dogs, Fluffy and Daisy Mae. Services were held Saturday, Oct. 17, at the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus.
20 comments
We all miss you so much.
Dad, Mom and Chris, Fluffy and Daisy
Great job Sarah.
The Chiari Center Foundation