Six weeks later...
Ananda receives her GK treatment tomorrow morning. We're heading to the hotel in Orlando as soon as she comes home from school later this afternoon. Her appointment is at 5:30am tomorrow morning. She'll be anesthetized while the head-frame is put into place, followed by an angiogram and a MRI in order to target the AVM, and then the gamma knife radiosurgery. The entire process should take 4-5 hours. I'm uncertain if she'll be released in the evening or the next morning - I know she'll have to be in recovery for at least 7 hours while the artery in her leg heals.
It has been a loooong 8 months waiting for this day...
How's Ananda? She is AWESOME! She had a fun-filled winter break, and has been back to school for the past week. She's actively selling Girl Scout cookies for her Brownies troop - so look out! And she's very anxious to get her "AVM fixed," so she can get back to karate classes...
Again, many, many thanks to everyone for keeping Ananda in your prayers. In addition to the generous donations we've received, there was a fundraiser event in Philadelphia, with upcoming events in NYC and Montreal, and a double-CD benefit compilation dedicated to Ananda with all the proceeds going towards her medical fund. WOW. Thank you.
Lastly, I apologize for not posting any updates over the past weeks. The holidays allowed me to not think about all the mishaps that we've faced in dealing with everything. And every time I attempted to write something, it came out angry and bitter, so I didn't post anything. Sorry.
Ananda's Story
In May 2007, our 6-year-old daughter had "the worst headache of my life" - the symptoms of a brain hemorrhage due to an Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM). She survived and is awaiting Radiosurgery in the upcoming weeks and is expected to make a full recovery...
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What is an AVM?
An illustration depicting an arteriovenous malformation, or AVM, an abnormal collection of blood vessels. Normally, red oxygenated blood is pumped by the heart through arteries to the tissues, and blue, deoxygenated blood then passes back to the heart through the veins. In an AVM, the artery connects to a vein, preventing blood from reaching the tissue but also putting pressure on veins. Mediscan/Corbis
AVM Links
- Arteriovenous Malformation Foundation
- ARUBA Trial
- AVM Support Group
- AVM Support UK
- Brain Surgery Information Center
- Brain Talk®
- Brain-Aneurysm.com
- Columbia University Medical Center
- Elekta - Gamma Knife® Surgery
- eMedicine
- Florida Hospital Gamma Knife Center
- Gamma Knife at University of Pittsburgh
- Gamma Knife Florida
- Harvard Brain AVM Support Group
- IRSA
- Medline Plus
- NINDS
- Salvatore P. Marra Foundation
- Spetzler AVM Grading System
- Toronto Brain Vascular Malformation Study Group
- UFL Department of Neurosurgery
- UWG Aneurysm & AVM Support
- Wikipedia: Aneurysm
- Wikipedia: AVM
- Wikipedia: Gamma Knife
3 comments:
my love, heart, support, bright positive visions and prayers are with you all. blessed be.
Fabulous. Let me know how it works out when you get back. have a happy and healthy birthday!
Hi.
I'll be checking back on Ananda's progress. Our youngest daughter had a bleed in her brain last June from an AVM. We are looking for a location to treat her with the gamma knife.
We have already had two locations fall through. She had her fifth birthday in ICU during her recovery -- so with such a young age there aren't many options. We are so blessed though! She is recovered and doing well in kindergarten.
I'll be praying for your daughter.
D. Cooper
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