Support Willow's Path to Full Recovery

Those of you who know Willow know what a kind-hearted, caring, loving, and bubbly child she is. Some of you may have been following the updates her mother and I have been sharing, but for those who don't know, a few weeks ago, Willow became very sick. The doctors originally sent her home with some medicine to treat what they thought was a mono. The medicine wasn't helping, and she started to develop symptoms of Bell Palsy. on January 30th, Jennifer went to wake her up just like she does every morning, except this morning, Willow felt extra tired. She had some time before she had to get ready, so she let her lay down for a little longer; when she returned to her room to get her up, Willow could not stand unassisted and couldn't walk. Jennifer rushed her to the ER, where they did a CT scan and thought they had found a tumor; this now became one of the scariest days of their life. They were then rushed to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, where further testing was done, and it was determined that Willow had several Cavernous Malformations, with the biggest one pressing right against her brain stem, which was causing all of her motor issues. After this day, everything started happening so quickly. She had to be rushed for an emergency brain tube for drainage to be placed, and they went from talking about waiting to have surgery for a couple of weeks to having it within 5 days of her admission. Thankfully, the doctors were able to remove all of the malformation surrounding her brain stem and another smaller one, but she does still have a few others remaining that will have to be monitored. This past week Willow was moved to a rehabilitation center in Louisville, Kentucky, where she will have to stay until the first week of March. Willow has shown great strength and has been very courageous through this whole process. Her mother, Jennifer, has not left her side during this. She has missed a lot of work and will not be able to return until Willow is completely better. When Willow comes home, she will need certain medical supplies and equipment to help her fully regain her strength and relearn how to be a kid again. All of the thoughts and prayers have been greatly appreciated, and I would like to ask that you keep them coming.

If you are able to donate, all of the proceeds will go towards helping get Willow's room ready for her to come home with any medical supplies and equipment needed. It will also help with gas as she will need to continue going to therapy and going to Vanderbilt for MRI checkups to make sure none of the other malformations are growing or causing anymore issues.