Alicia Nolte's life couldn't be better than it is right now. She has a loving husband, a beautiful daughter and a clothing store that continues to bring new trends to Longview's fashionable. Everything's finally falling into place for this 42-year-old, but not too long ago her life was anything but a bowl of cherries.
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Alicia thanks God for every day she gets with her family — her husband Mike, her daughter Ella, her two pups and her pot-belly pig.
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A hard youth
Alicia believes that heartache is a necessary part of life in order to grow and develop as a person. She bases this theory on her own struggles growing up.
"It's important to go through things in life — hard times — and really learn from experiences without becoming numb to things," she said. "Once you go through something painful, you learn more about who you are."
As a young girl, Alicia craved her mother's love and affection; however, even at a young age she knew that was difficult for her mother to express.
"She was a foster child, raised by 14 different families, and I think that really had an effect on her emotionally," Alicia said. "Mom couldn't show love, really. It was hard, but I never stopped trying to show her that I loved her ... so much."
Concerns
Last year, Alicia took a day off from Cherry Hill, her downtown boutique, to spend some time at the golf course when she noticed severe tension in her neck. She knew it was time to pay attention to her body.
She hadn't been feeling herself in quite some time. Horrible headaches and fatigue were causing her to seriously question her health; even her friends were telling her to slow down. When she went to have her yearly checkup, she voiced her concerns to her doctor.
"I asked my doctor if I could get an MRI," Alicia said. "He was a little surprised that I would make such a major request, but I knew I needed one. I told him what God had been putting on my mind. I thought I had a brain aneurysm."
Alicia was no stranger to that condition. Her mother, a nurse anesthetist, had a brain aneurysm that went untreated ... no one knew it was there. Her mother was working in the operating room when her aneurysm ruptured. Doctors worked quickly to repair the hemorrhage, but the damage was too severe. For seven years after that traumatic event Alicia was there for her mom, battling her dementia and countless seizures.
"I put my personal life aside so I could be tough for my mother, never expecting that it would be my turn to be tough for my own family," she said. "When she passed away, I just needed to breathe ... I needed to live my life and love my family. But there wasn't time for that just yet — because God had a plan for me."
When Alicia got the call about her MRI, the results were no surprise to her. She had already prepared herself for the news.
"Sure enough, my radiologist called me and confirmed that I had an aneurysm, just like my mother. The same artery, too," Alicia said. "The only thing I could visualize was how hard my relationship with my mother became, and how I didn't want my 3-year-old daughter Ella to grow up taking care of me ... only knowing me as this person who never knows her name and who always needs to go to the emergency room after another seizure."
Surgery
With help from family friend and state representative Tommy Merritt, Alicia was admitted into a Dallas hospital and was prepped for surgery in no time at all.
"Some people say state reps don't truly care about citizens, but they really do!" Alicia said.
There are two main methods of treatment for aneurysms: clipping (also known as a craniotomy) and coiling, the latter being the less invasive. Coiling involves threading either a small latex balloon or tiny pieces of platinum wire into the aneurysm, causing the blood to clot and solidify.
"My mother had a craniotomy and, because of complications during the surgery, it left her partially blind," Alicia said. "Coiling is just a temporary fix, but between the two methods, I felt better about this one. The less risk, the better."
The constant love, support and prayer from family and friends gave Alicia a sense of calmness as she went into surgery in November of 2006.
"Everyone, even people I didn't even know, rallied around me during such a hard time," she said. "That was such an amazing feeling. I knew as long as I did what I needed to do to take care of myself, God would do the rest. That gave me total peace."
Alicia also found great support from her radiologist, Dr. Keaton; Dr. Sampson, who recommended that she undergo the coiling procedure; Dr. Welch, who repaired her aneurysm; and Kathy Mendicello, her manager at Cherry Hill.
About faith
Recovery has been a time of uncertainty for Alicia. On one hand, she's confidant the surgeons did their best and there's no reason to live in fear. On the other hand, the slightest headache now causes concern.
"I've been more anxious about things ... it's still new to me, so it'll take some time," she said. "I just remind myself that I'm here today because God has allowed me to be. I could scare myself playing the 'what if' game, but I realize it's not about me at all. It's about how God wants to use me to help others."
Instead, Alicia turns to two very certain things in her life: her faith and her family.
"My days are more meaningful now. I'm living by faith," she said. "I forget any bad things that have happened ... I just want to be Ella's mom and best friend. I want to teach her the joys of helping others, and I want to be there for all the little things she does. God has given me the chance to be the wife and mother He wants me to be. That's such a gift."
