UNION, W.Va. (WVDN) – Just over a year ago, Korie and Todd Baker received the news no one ever wants to hear. Their daughter Aimee’s brain cancer hadn’t responded to treatment, and there was nothing else doctors could do.
Aimee Baker has a rare form of incurable brain cancer called glioblastoma. On March 7, 2022, when they delivered the news that they were out of options, doctors told the Bakers that Aimee had only weeks to months to live; they could continue to try to fight the cancer with more operations, more radiation and more chemotherapy, but the chances of curing it were next to nil. Or, they told them, they could bring Aimee home and keep her comfortable, and let her live out her final days in peace.
Korie and Todd Baker chose to bring Aimee home.
Now, over a year later, Aimee, 13, is still alive, living at home in Monroe County.
“We don’t even have the words” to describe the past year, Korie Baker said. “It’s been good, but it’s been hard.”
Korie Baker said she and Todd stay home with Aimee full time.
“At least one of us is with her at all times,” Korie Baker said. “It’s hard because she could have a seizure or stoke at any time, and that will be it.”
Korie Baker said Aimee is “still hanging in.” She has lost vision in her right eye and has limited vision in her left eye due to damage from one of her brain surgeries. Her long-term memory is great, she said, but her short-term memory is not.
“She enjoys audio books and listening to the TV, and we read to her,” Korie Baker said.
HospiceCare visits the Bakers’ home once a week, and Dr. Jennifer Bailey of the Monroe Health Center also makes a house call every Wednesday. “They’ve become part of the family,” Korie Baker said.
When asked how she manages the tasks involved in caring for her daughter, along with the emotionally taxing reality of the situation at home, Korie Baker said she turns to her faith.
“The Lord helps me,” she said. “There are days that I’m fine, and then Aimee will say something about the future, and it’s a punch in the gut.”
Sometimes Aimee knows she doesn’t have long to live, but sometimes she also forgets, said Korie Baker.
One of the symptoms of the cancer is that Aimee’s circadian rhythm is all mixed up.
“Aimee’s sleep schedule is nonexistent; we just go with it,” Korie Baker said in a recent post on the family’s Facebook page, Aimee’s Adventure. “Her appetite is terrible, and she’s not drinking much. Nevertheless, she’s in good spirits.”
The youngest of four siblings, Aimee told The West Virginia Daily News that she wanted to thank her “wonderful” brother, Ian, for all his support over the last couple of years. “When I came home from my second surgery, he would want to do things with me all the time,” she said.
Aimee’s two older siblings no longer live at home, but her older sister lives in the house next door, and her older brother, a student at Marshall University, comes home every weekend to visit.
Like her parents, Aimee’s faith in God has sustained and guided her throughout this arduous journey.
“I’ve really seen God’s mercy through this,” she said. “But I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.”
On the Aimee’s Adventure Facebook page, Korie Baker recounted a recent conversation she had with her daughter.
“She said, ‘Mum?’”
“Yes?”
“Can we talk?”
“Sure.”
“Is it alright that I am looking forward to dying and going to Heaven?”
“Yes ma’am, it is.”
“Mum, I’m tired of cancer.”
“Me too, baby.”
“When I get up there, I will have two good arms to hug Jesus with.”
“And you will be able to run and jump, too.”
“I can’t wait, Mum.’” Korie Baker recounted.
“Later,” Korie Baker wrote on the Facebook blog, “she told Todd that she was ‘ready to mosey on home to Heaven.’”
Those interested in sending Aimee a card can send it to Aimee’s Adventure, P.O. Box 123, Union, WV 24983. There is also a fund at the Bank of Monroe where people can donate to the family under the name the Aimee E. Baker Benefit.
People are also invited to like and follow Aimee Baker’s Facebook page, Aimee’s Adventure.
As for anything else the community can do to support the family? “Just pray,” said Korie Baker. “We’re not sure where her ‘Adventure’ is leading next, but, please, keep praying for our family.”
