Ariana's Transplant Surgery

Ariana Marie Fells is a very happy and vibrant 2 year old girl. She loves to act out all of her favorite movies, which includes all of the Disney Princesses, Kung Fu Panda movies, and her all time favorite of them all: the Toy Story movies. She loves to play with her Woody and Buzz Lightyear toys even when she is not watching the Toy Story movie. Everyone that she comes in contact with gravitates to her for her diva-like personality, her sense of humor, and her beautiful smile.

Early Sunday morning, on October 2, 2016, Charles (her dad) and I woke up to Ariana throwing up and screaming out loud. It was a scream that we have never heard before and still haunts her dad up to this day. We immediately gotten dressed, and rushed Ariana to the emergency room. During the ride to the hospital, Ariana is hysterically screaming and crying and clenching on to her stomach in pain. We finally reached Palmetto Health Children's emergency room and they immediately given her I.V. fluids to help the vomitting subside. Although she was given fluids, Ariana is still throwing up everything that is given to her, so the residing doctor thought it was best to admit her into the Children's Hospital so she could be monitored closely.

After what seemed to be about an hour in the hospital, we noticed that Ariana could not hold her head up at all, looking very pale, and very weakily moved closer to me. Soon after, she started throwing up a dark brown substance, with turned out to be blood and waste, so the team that was helping with Ariana helped diligently to get her prepared and hooked her up in the machines necessary to transport her up to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit). Immediately, the team all worked together to get to the bottom of what could possibly being going wrong with Ariana, and why was her health declining so fast and why she was dehydrated when she has been given about 3 bags of saline fluids. After many hours of bloodwork, scans, and x-rays, they had finally came to the bottom of what was causing our sweet little girl the pain and agony that she was going through.

The doctor and surgeon came together and told myself, Charles and our family who were waiting with us that her small bowels were twisted into a tight knot and that it was no telling how long Ariana has been going through with this and that she had to undergo surgery immediately to untangle to the twisting of her small intestines. The surgeon then let  us know that after the untwisting of her lines, that they wanted to wait for 36 to 48 hours to see if her intestines would regain blood flow and she would become normal again. Sadly, her blood work that was taken showed that she could not wait through the original time frame, and that she had to undergo a follow up surgery the next day to check on the intestines. Unfortunately with the twisting of intestines, it was too much damage to the small intestines, and it was not improving the way that the surgeons intended it to be, and that it would kill her if they didn't removed the diseased intestines. In result, the surgeon had to take out 90% of Ariana's small intestines in order to live a some-what normal life.

The condition Ariana now lives and and suffers with is called Short Gut Syndrome, which is when some or all of the small intestines have to be removed due to it being diseased or twisted. In result, Ariana can not have any intake of food or drink because the small intestines are needed for the digesting process of foods. She now has a broviac line placed in her chest that goes straight to her heart that gives her the nutrients and fats that she needs. She also has a g-tube placed in her stomach to help get rid of the waste because she can no longer have any bowel movements. There is no cure for the short gut syndrome, but the only thing that her doctors and surgeons suggested is that she gets a transplant for her small intestines. 

Currently, Ariana is home and still vibrant as if nothing is wrong with her. I help take care of Ariana while Charles is at work to provide for the family. She is aware of everything that is going on, and smiles through it all, which makes everyone happy.  I help make sure that she is connected to her nutrients and change out her bag for the g-tube if needed.

Charles and I are asking for help with Ariana's medical and our financial expenses due to Charles working alone and myself being out of work when the time of Ariana's transplant surgery and healing process occur. She is currently at the top of the list and is in no competition for the organ that she needs and will have her surgery at the Medstar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC. We are still currently waiting on the call to let us know when to get ready for her surgery.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read our story, and may God bless you.

WE ARE ARIANA STRONG