Baby Ava Morawski - part of our family

https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/avamorawski 
Drs. Katie and James Morawski are part of our VCA Family. Dr. Katie Morawski works at VCA Westboro and Dr. James Morawski works at VCA Lancaster and both are beloved, long-time members of our VCA family. Recently, one of their newborn twins, Ava, was diagnosed with a pediatric, malignant brain tumor and there will be many months of ICU, chemo, and surgeries ahead. While we can't take their pain and stress away during this time, we can help lessen the financial burden that they will undoubtedly face through this GoFundMe Account.

Below is an excerpt from Katie on Ava's condition:

 

"Lots of family and friends are telling me that they don’t have the words right now. I don’t have the words either for the sympathy, love, compassion, and support you all have shown my family and me, so thank you all for that. I wish I could individually thank you all for each comment, message, gift card, donation, and offering of help, but honestly, there is so much of it and I am so exhausted that a group thank you will have to do for now.

 

Regarding Ava:

She had surgery to remove her tumor (quite large at about 3x4cm) from her posterior fossa (essentially in the fourth ventricle between the cerebellum and brain stem.) It is definitely malignant. Per the neurosurgeon (talk about a badass lady), the surgery was as successful as it could have been with little to no complications. She had some blood in her lateral ventricles on follow up MRI, but it otherwise looks clean. She is painful, has had a fever (seems resolved), and some neurological facial deficits, all expected and all likely to resolve. Her hydrocephalus is slowly improving and brain tissue re-expanding into the places it should be. She is eating the breast milk I am pumping for her and for the first time in about a month, not vomiting. We are currently waiting to be transferred out of ICU once a room opens up on the “floor”.

 

We spoke to a pediatric neuro-oncologist from Dana Farber. We are lucky to be in Boston with such amazing medical care. (Both my mother and my husband’s (James, my vet school classmate and a DaDVM—it’ll catch on) mother were treated there for breast cancer.) The oncologist said, a lot depends on tumor type, and genetic sequencing, but we should expect her to be hospitalized once she heals from the surgery for *months* for intensive inpatient chemotherapy. Hospitalization is better to help deal with the inevitable side effects, setbacks, infections, etc, and to get physical and occupational therapy. It will be a long and hard road. Here are the good things I gleaned:

1. She is either stage M0 (localized disease) or M1 (if she has cells in her CSF when they do a lumbar puncture in the coming weeks.) She has no metastasis to her spinal cord or elsewhere in the brain.

2. He used the word “cure.” I have been waivering between thinking she may live and she’s definitely going to die, but to hear a cure is possible was encouraging. It sounds like kids have the potential to be somewhat normal though chronic health issues and some cognitive issues are to be expected."

 

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