WISH LIST QUAD-CITIES: TV would help Brittney see Big Bird

Font Size:

By Deirdre Cox Baker | Saturday, November 26, 2005 11:00 PM CST | () comments

Larry Fisher/quad-city times The Meunier family, Brian, left, 22-month-old Brittney who suffers from Sturge-Weber Syndrome, Erica and Christopher.

CLINTON, Iowa — Little Brittney Meunier might fight for her life every minute of the day, but she’s won her share of love and respect in this world. With a little help during the holidays, she may soon be able to see her buddy, Big Bird.

“She has taught us a lot,” said her mother, Erica Meunier, who with her husband, Brian, and 7-year-old son, Christopher, live with Brittney in Clinton.

“I always thought strength was something that babies learned as they grew up, but she has more strength than most people I know,” Erica said with a fond look at her daughter.

Now 22 months old, Brittney was born with bilateral Sturge-Weber syndrome. Complications include wine red stains on her head and body, glaucoma that has claimed most of her vision and a loss of 75 percent of her brain capacity. She is normally sized for her age but lives like a baby younger than four months old. Her diagnosis is terminal.

She’s failed every vision test she’s been given but finds ways to compensate, her mother said, using the senses of taste and smell. “It’s kind of funny — she sniffs and licks at you like a little puppy,” she explained.

Brittney loves Big Bird and Dora the Explorer, her mother said. “She can see both yellow and red, and watches them on the television.” But the family’s TV is so old it’s lost the color capacity and the Meuniers would like to have a new set that’s got a large enough screen so Brittney can see it.

The toddler takes nutrition through a stomach tube and has consistent respiratory problems which precipitate seizures on a regular basis.

Brittney was born Jan. 19, 2004, and her medical problems were quickly apparent. Erica Meunier quit her career in human resources and cared for the baby without nurses for several months, shuttling her back and forth for treatment at University of Iowa Hospitals, Iowa City. She got help after the baby started having seizures several times a day.

But Brittney will be able to see Big Bird with a new television set and might even give him her special smile, even as she struggles to survive.

— Deirdre Cox Baker