Alecia and Ariana’s Medical Expenses

Prayers for Alecia and Ariana!

Alecia Amezcua is a Spanish teacher at Norfolk Senior High School and has always had a love for helping others. Alecia’s daughter, Ariana, is a senior at the high school and is interested in going into the medical field. Ariana is currently taking 3 college classes despite her own health issues she has been working hard to be the best student, so she can have the best future possible!

Here's their story...

Alecia's daughter, Ariana, was 7 years old when she had to have 2 brain surgeries to remove a DNeT (dysembryoplastic neuroepilthelial tumor) brain tumor in 2012. This brain tumor caused epilepsy, but once the tumor was removed and Ariana's brain healed everything seemed fine. In April 2016 she had her first seizure and soon was having multiple seizures a day. She had several brain surgeries, with the last one being in 2017. Since then, Ariana has been on high doses of medications. Fast forward to November 14, 2022, she had her 5th brain surgery - and it was rough. The surgeon found blood vessels that grew on their own on Ariana's brain, which were not supposed to be there. She was supposed to have her 6th surgery on November 18th, but the doctors needed to wait longer (because of the issues with the previous surgery). Due to this, she had to wait until November 23, 2022 for her 6th surgery.

Since this final surgery, she's had a few hiccups.... Her PCA stopped working (right after surgery) and she wasn't getting the pain meds she needed, she's struggling through physical therapy and occupational therapy and the fact that they weren't able to go home for Thanksgiving (as was originally planned). On November 28th, Ariana was finally released from the hospital. The air in Ariana’s head has decreased but there is still much swelling. Getting home and seeing her animals after 15 days in the hospital made Ariana happy. She is still needing 1 on 1 care at home and has a long road to recovery. They are currently trying to stay on top of meds because of her pain. She must remain sitting for most of the day to help pull the fluid off her brain. It is difficult to do because it hurts so bad to sit up for long periods of time, but it will help her in the long run. They're hoping this will be super temporary! Alicia is looking into resources to help with home health care, but in the meantime, she's needing to take days off work for Ariana's 1 on 1 care and for her follow-up appointments.

On December 1st, Ariana was re-admitted to the ICU in Omaha with a CSF leak. She had to have another brain surgery. This time it removed everything that was just done, due to infection. They had to take cultures of the infection to find the right antibiotics to treat it.

As of December 11th, Ariana has had a total of 4 brain surgeries since November 14th. She has been in the hospital since December 1st, and will likely be transferred to Madonna for some rehabilitation services. 

As a teacher who is out of allocated vacation days, Alecia must pay in more that she makes (taxes, Medicare, retirement, etc.) for EACH DAY she misses work. Combining this with the prices of medication, gas traveling to and from Omaha, etc. - it's a lot to handle for one person.

If you’re financially able to help, please consider donating funds toward Ariana’s medical expenses and gas. 

Thank you very much!