Sydney's Fight Against Epilepsy

My sister Sydney has had a rough go round with life since she was born. Sydney was born with hypo plastic left heart syndrome which means she was born without the left ventrical of her heart, doctors didn't believe she would live 72 hours. They did what's called the Norwood procedure which was a series of three open heart surgeries. When Sydney was three years old she went in for what would be her last open Heart surgery. Shortly into surgery Sydney sprang a blood clot and suffered a stroke which ultimately left her paralyzed from her neck down. The doctors firmly believed that Sydney would never walk,talk or even potentially never be able to eat on her own again. After physical therapy Sydney slowly began to defy all odds. She began to walk, talk and eat on her own. Since she was three years old Sydney has defied many odds that have come her way including any surgery or downfall that this disorder has caused her and continued physical therapy for 16 years. Sydney was at the top of her charts until a couple of years ago she began to have episodes. When we went to the doctor for them we found out that she had epilepsy and was specifically diagnosed with complex partial seizures due to the scar tissue on her brain from when she had the stroke. They prescribed her a medication that worked for the most part but as time went on the seizures progressed. After a series of medications they took her in to do testing to try and detect the location of the seizures to make sure they're addressing things correctly. After testing they continued medication in hopes that they would be able to keep them under control. The seizures continued to progress and what seemed to be "anything" could trigger her to have one. After a firm decision the doctors have agreed that surgery could be now one of the only hopes she has to stop these seizures. She is scheduled to have two surgeries. One is set for Monday, June 5th and the following surgery is scheduled for Thursday, June 8th. The procedure that they are doing is called a Craniotomy with elevation of bone flap and lobotomy temporal lobe. The recovery time for her surgery is 10-12 weeks. As she will be hospitalized for 10 days. After applying Sydney unfortunately isn't able to qualify for FMLA at this time and the short term disability that she could receive is to be determined so at this point she has no financial support to pay her bills and have a financially comfortable recovery time. I am reaching out for help, for my sister and to help make her road to recovery a smooth and non stressful one, being that she's been through more than a lot of us could imagine.  My sister is truly a fighter and always has been. Our family is in solidarity that she will fight through this bump in the road yet again and we hope you're in the fight with us. Any amount helps and Sydney, Myself and our family appreciate all of the love and support that Sydney has received and continues to receive throughout her life. We will keep everyone updated through the surgery and recovery process. Again, thank you so much for the love and support. #SydneySquad