Squishes Medical funds
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(posted in December 2019)
This year took our family by surprise, while thinking that the recovery from my own personal sickness was complete and that I was well on my way to making payment arrangements to cover my medical bills, our Squish monster (daughter) developed a double ear infection. Between the various trips to her pediatrician for check-ups ,Squish monster grew weaker even though her ear infections were starting to dissipate. I sat Squish monster up in her walker to help build her core strength back up and within 20 seconds her head fell backwards and she could not pick it back up. We went to her pediatrician’s office and they sent us to VCU Children’s Hospital located in Richmond, Virginia.
After a bunch of questions and several evaluations, she was given a room on the pediatric floor. They scheduled an MRI for the next morning. They couldn’t do the MRI the day we arrived because of the lack of availability of the MRI machine and an anesthesiologist. An MRI that was to take a few hours took five hours. It was determined that she has a rare childhood brain tumor known as Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma (“JPA”). The tumor sat on the right side of brain near her cerebellum. Because of the size of the tumor (7 cm x 5 cm x 3 cm) it was preventing spinal fluid from draining. The spinal fluid had begun to put pressure on her brain as well as the tumor thus causing her to lose her mobility.
The initial surgery to remove the tumor took 7 hours and the surgeon removed what she thought was the entire tumor. She got to a point that she and her team thought they had it all. Turns out there was a piece of tissue, that looked like brain matter, that was left inside the cavity. The surgeon said she stopped because the tissue of the tumor looked like brain matter and a wrong move would have caused Squish monster to suffer permanent physical damage. After the follow-up MRI, the surgeon determined that a second surgery was necessary to remove the remaining, lima bean size, matter. She scheduled the surgery and arranged to have some high tech equipment brought in to assist. On December 30th, she underwent surgery and will have a follow-up MRI on the 31st. It will depend on the results of the follow-up MRI if she will need to have to have chemotherapy and radiation.
While the prognosis is good, Squishy monster will remain in the hospital until she regains the ability to walk. At first, she will need to have a follow-up MRI every 3 months. As she gets older, the time between MRIs will increase and eventually she will have an MRI every year, for the rest of her life. While she has insurance, we have our 2019 and our 2020 deductibles to meet and are also seeking donations to cover any additional deductibles and costs associated with her recovery.
(posted in December 2019)
This year took our family by surprise, while thinking that the recovery from my own personal sickness was complete and that I was well on my way to making payment arrangements to cover my medical bills, our Squish monster (daughter) developed a double ear infection. Between the various trips to her pediatrician for check-ups ,Squish monster grew weaker even though her ear infections were starting to dissipate. I sat Squish monster up in her walker to help build her core strength back up and within 20 seconds her head fell backwards and she could not pick it back up. We went to her pediatrician’s office and they sent us to VCU Children’s Hospital located in Richmond, Virginia.
After a bunch of questions and several evaluations, she was given a room on the pediatric floor. They scheduled an MRI for the next morning. They couldn’t do the MRI the day we arrived because of the lack of availability of the MRI machine and an anesthesiologist. An MRI that was to take a few hours took five hours. It was determined that she has a rare childhood brain tumor known as Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma (“JPA”). The tumor sat on the right side of brain near her cerebellum. Because of the size of the tumor (7 cm x 5 cm x 3 cm) it was preventing spinal fluid from draining. The spinal fluid had begun to put pressure on her brain as well as the tumor thus causing her to lose her mobility.
The initial surgery to remove the tumor took 7 hours and the surgeon removed what she thought was the entire tumor. She got to a point that she and her team thought they had it all. Turns out there was a piece of tissue, that looked like brain matter, that was left inside the cavity. The surgeon said she stopped because the tissue of the tumor looked like brain matter and a wrong move would have caused Squish monster to suffer permanent physical damage. After the follow-up MRI, the surgeon determined that a second surgery was necessary to remove the remaining, lima bean size, matter. She scheduled the surgery and arranged to have some high tech equipment brought in to assist. On December 30th, she underwent surgery and will have a follow-up MRI on the 31st. It will depend on the results of the follow-up MRI if she will need to have to have chemotherapy and radiation.
While the prognosis is good, Squishy monster will remain in the hospital until she regains the ability to walk. At first, she will need to have a follow-up MRI every 3 months. As she gets older, the time between MRIs will increase and eventually she will have an MRI every year, for the rest of her life. While she has insurance, we have our 2019 and our 2020 deductibles to meet and are also seeking donations to cover any additional deductibles and costs associated with her recovery.
Organizer
Squish Monster
Organizer
Fredericksburg, VA