OPERATION NOEL: Canutillo grandmother cares for teen granddaughter in remission

In the tight-knit town of Canutillo, it’s not rare to find generations of Eagles in one family, including Gracie Grier’s.

“I graduated from Canutillo, my mom graduated from here, my daughter graduated from here, and now my grandkids are going to Canutillo,” Grier told ABC-7.

Gracie lives with her husband and her 15-year-old granddaughter, Vyveka. Most days, Vyveka’s younger siblings Kayley and Amir stay there too.

Vyveka’s mother, Leah, got pregnant at 17-years-old, but was not ready for the challenges of motherhood. Gracie and her husband decided to help out. “We just stepped in and told her finish school, and don’t worry about it,” said Gracie. “So we took care of Vyveka.”

Vyveka said she’s grateful that they did.

Leah works at Lupita’s Tamales, a fixture in Canutillo. She takes care of Kayley and Amir, 6 and 5, but the siblings miss their sister, so they like to stay at Gracie’s when they can.

Growing up, Vyveka would mostly keep to herself. But last year, her behavior began to worry Gracie. Vyveka became withdrawn and would hide in her room.

“Pictures she would draw, were really deep, dark things,” said Gracie. Vyveka didn’t know she was depressed, but she knew something was wrong. “Well you wake up in the morning, and you just think about it,” she told ABC-7. “Do I really want to get up? Or do I just want to stay in bed.”

Vyveka’s school work was affected as well. She said she didn’t want to do anything and had no motivation.

On Canutillo’s homecoming day, a big event for the town, things took a turn. That morning while getting ready, Vyveka came out of the bathroom crying.

Gracie dropped off Vyveka at the parade to perform in the marching band, but a couple of hours later, she got a phone call from the school counselor.

“They called me and told me I needed to pick her up because she was having dark thoughts,” said Gracie. They recommended that Vyveka see a doctor.

They went to the hospital and talked with doctors that night. After hours of waiting, Gracie would be told that Vyveka was under a suicidal watch, a surprise for the grandma. “It’s very hard to see your grandchild go through something like that. It’s very, very hard.”

“Sometimes you have thoughts of suicide, and you just want to end your life,” said Vyveka. “It’s kind of horrible. You can just be happy one day, and the next day you’re sad for no reason. You don’t have to have a reason to be depressed.”

She was admitted to University Behavioral Health for a seven days. Gracie visited her every single day. “When you leave, it’s like you leave a piece of you there with them,” Gracie said about visiting Vyveka.

Vyveka was felt uneasy staying there. She was not used to be around women and men like that.

After a week there, Vyveka was released.

Two days after being back at home, Vyveka slit her wrists.

“I was the one that took her to the hospital,” said Gracie. “And that was really tramuatizing, seeing what she had did.” Gracie said watching the nurses stitch Vyveka back up was hard to watch.

Treatment for her depression began. Vyveka would take medication day and night, as well as see a psychiatrist and counselor, something she does til this day. She also began going to school half-a-day due to anxiety.

“She’ll start texting me, like ‘mom, I’m starting to feel anxious'”, said Gracie. Once Vyveka says “I need help”, the family and school staff stops what they’re doing to sit with her while her anxiety passes.

Vyveka knows when an attack is imminent. She said her hands begin to sweat and she feels nauseous. She said she also feels like crying when in front of people.

“Imagine you’re at school and they ask you to answer a question. You know the answer, you’re just afraid to get it wrong, but it’s right,” said Vyveka.

In January, the Grier family would be tested again. Vyveka and her grandma were at a girl scout rally when Vyveka began to complain about sharp pains. She begged Gracie to take her to the hospital. Doctors found a tumor the size of a softball.

Doctors decided to release Vyveka, but as they were leaving the hospital, a nurse stopped Gracie. Gracie said the nurse advised them to seek another opinion, adding that doctors weren’t telling Gracie everything.

Gracie then took Vyveka to El Paso Children’s Hospital. They saw about 10 different nurses and doctors. Doctors weren’t sure if the tumor was solid or liquid, so they scheduled Vyveka for surgery.

During surgery to remove to the tumor, doctors realized the tumor was worse than they thought. “It was almost the size of a volleyball,” said Gracie. “How did it go from the size of a little softball to the size of a little volleyball?”

Immediately, Vyveka began treatment for ovarian cancer, undergoing chemotherapy treatments three times a week. “I think it took a while for her to realize she had cancer,” said Gracie. “We would ask her, and she’d say, I’m okay, I’m fine. She didn’t really want to talk about it.”

“It hit me very hard. I started questioning myself. Am I going to get through this? Am I going to pass away? What’s going to happen to my family?” said Vyveka.

The chemo took its toll on Vyveka. “You get nauseous. You don’t want to eat. You get cold. You lose all your hair. Not just the hair on your head, but your eyebrows.”

Gracie had to stop working to take care of Vyveka full-time. She taught for the district for years, so it was hard for her to stop. The family had to rely on Gracie’s husband’s salary as a custodian.

“And still this year, I’m not really working as much,” said Gracie. Since Vyveka only goes to school half-a-day, Gracie can’t work full-time.

Kayley and Amir were worried for their older sister during her chemo treatments. They were worried Vyveka would never come back home. “I was so sad and I was worried for her,” said Kayley. “I thought she was going to go up to heaven.” Kayley and Amir visited Vyveka when they could. “I would just say just don’t think about,” said Kayley. “I would help her get up and go to the restroom. She would always have to have machines near her.”

Looking back, Gracie thinks maybe the depression could have been a symptom of the cancer. She said the doctor told her that sometimes depression can be a symptom.

In April, Vyveka went into remission.

The family is now looking forward to the future, hoping to get back on track. Gracie said the younger siblings are in need of clothes and jackets. Kayley wants clothes, dolls, and would love to get the internet back on.

Vyveka said she is doing better, and feels happier compared to last year. She hopes nothing bad happens to the family anymore.

For Vyveka, Gracie just wants her to overcome her anxiety. Gracie said she won’t be there for Vyveka that much longer. She wants Vyveka to go to college, but is worried Vyveka won’t be able to control her anxiety. She wants Vyveka to learn to be around people.

Vyveka feels guilt sometimes about the family’s situation. “I feel like, well, a little bit like my fault. If I hadn’t go through all my depression stage, they probably would have been fine and not worried about me.”

Despite everything, Gracie knows the family will overcome and move forward, as long as they stick together.

“As long as Vyveka needs my help, I’m here for her.”

ANNUAL TELETHON

ABC-7’S Annual Operation Noel Telethon will be next Thursday. A donation of $13.50 will help pay for one jacket.

You can donate by clicking here.

For more than 70 years, Operation Noel has looked out for some of our area’s neediest children.

The charity has evolved over the years, but its primary mission today is to provide new winter coats to more than 20,000 children in the region whose families cannot afford to buy the coats for them. This is possible through community donations both individual and corporate. One hundred percent of the donations go toward paying the bill for the new coats, which is approximately $270,000.00, or approximately $13.50 per coat.

For many area children, Operation Noel is their only hope of getting a new winter coat. Over the years, we have heard of Operation Noel coats being passed on to younger children in the family.

The children who receive the coats are identified by area social workers, educators and school counselors.