Raena was diagnosed with atypical SLE Lupus when she was 9 years old. Since then, her journey has had many ups and downs. In August she was admitted to Children's Hospital for an infection in her arm. Her vitals were out of whack, heart rate running 160's, respiratory rates in the 40's and she was admitted to the PICU. She began having respiratory distress and was then put on a bipap machine to help her breathe. The doctors could not figure out what was causing  her symptoms, calling it unconfirmed Sepsis. During her stay, her blood cell counts dropped dramatically and she was sent to get a bone marrow biopsy. She was later diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia. She was told she would be unable to attend her 9th grade year, at Mead High with her friends, and that she would need to be homeschooled as she was too immunocompromised. She was to take an anti fungal and anti bacterial med profalaxis, which ultimately may have caused her most recent diagnosis, Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension. She was experiencing severe migraines and vision changes so we brought her back to Children's. After an MRI and MRV they determined she had significant pressure in her head, and sent her for a lumbar puncture. After removing 20 cm's of fluid from her spine, she finally was able to get some relief. After being discharged a few days later,  her migraine came back. They did ultrasounds of her eyes determined the pressure was back, she got another lumbar puncture and we were sent home again. Not even 2 days later, her migraine returned and she ended up back at Children's. They did yet another lumbar puncture and realized now her spinal fluid was too low and she also had acidosis. So here we sit. Waiting for answers, waiting for relief from her pain. Her veins are completely shot from the numerous IVs that have been placed over the last month, so she is unable to get the IV medication needed to hopefully rid this migraine once and for all. Tomorrow she will be going under anesthesia to have a pic line placed, in hopes of getting relief for her pain. As you can imagine Raena's spirits are low. She has been through way too much in the past 5 years of her life. I have a very hard time asking for help. I have had so many wonderful people reach out to me, but I am unsure what to say.  As the days of work that Dan and I have missed, continue to add up, I realize what we need most is some financial help. As hard as it is to ask, we have lost out on a tremendous amount of income. Thank you in advance for any help that we may receive and to those whom have graciously sent us money already through Venmo. My Venmo ID is @Beth-Ridgeway17, if you would prefer.It definitely takes a village during times like this. Keep Raena in your thoughts and prayers, sending her positive energy to help pull her through this. With love - Beth Ridgeway