Four Surgeries in Past Five Months for Aria Hope

UPDATE - Feb.'14

In the past five months, Aria has had four surgeries.

In Oct. '13, she had a fundoplication.  I talk about it here. Future Surgeries

In Nov. '13, she had her 2nd chiari brain surgery but this time they cut the dura (the sac around the brain). It was at this time the doctor realized that she also suffered from hydrocephalus (too much water pressure on the brain).

In Dec. '13, she was back in the hospital because she was leaking spinal fluid through the incision that's in the back of her head. She was there a couple days to watch for infection. Later in the month she started developing lumps near her incision but we hoped it would go away.

In Jan. '14, Aria went through another Chiari brain surgery to fix the spinal fluid leak in the back of her head and she spent two weeks in the hospital with a temporary shunt in the small of her back hoping to allow the brain to adjust to the hydrocephalus. We chose this option because the other option was to put a permanent one in her head.

Feb. '14 saw us back in the hospital because she had developed lumps in back of head again and within two days of telling the doctor they put her back in the hospital and put the shunt in her head, making this her fourth brain surgery. The good news is that they didn't have to open up the back of her head again and in three months they'll check to see if the shunt can be removed. We didn't know this was an option when we first heard about shunts but we're glad that if her body can heal and deal with her hydrocephalus it can be removed.

A friend started a medical fundraiser for us to help us with our hospital expenses called Love for Aria Hope. The video of Aria that our friend put together was very sweet. It brought tears to my eyes.

We're also very thankful to those who blessed us financially during this major event in our lives.

We're even more thankful for your prayers for Aria's healing. Please keep praying for her.