Ameliya's Angels

Ameliya is a 2.5 year old active, hilarious and sassy little girl, who's life was turned upside down after catching a common cold. She had been sick for a few days but was starting to feel better, and like any Saturday morning, she went to the local gymnastics club for her class, followed by some dancing at a local street festival. That afternoon her parents noticed she was limping on her right leg, and they simply thought she stepped on a toy or possibly even twisted something at gymnastics. Little did they know, paralysis was already setting in. By Monday, Ameliya couldn't bare weight on her right leg, so her mom took her to the chiropractor, which came up with nothing. The whole family went to the emergency room that night in the hopes of getting some answers. They did an X-ray to look for a toddler fracture, and blood work to look for infections - both came up clean. They simply said that she's just hurt it doing something, give her Motrin and let her rest. The next day she was having hip problems, so her parents took her to CHEO in Ottawa. She was diagnosed with Transient Synovitis - something that would fix itself within 2 weeks, again, rest and Motrin. They followed up the next morning at the hospital with Ameliyas pediatrician, who agreed with the previous diagnosis. Everyone was relieved that she would start to get better soon; but she didn't. A couple days later, Ameliya could no longer sit up on her own, she couldn't hold a spoon in her right hand and her head resembled a bobble head doll - her mom knew this wasn't agreeing with the diagnosis made and took her back to CHEO. That night she was admitted, went sent for a CT Scan, MRI with contrast, Spinal Tap and additional blood work. Ameliya was diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome. When Ameliya was sick with a cold a couple weeks prior, her body created anti-bodies to attack the virus; however, those anti-bodies turned on her and started to attack her nervous system, more specifically the nerves in the spinal cord and the myelin insulation surrounding the nerves. The next 2-days Ameliya was given IVIG (clean blood infusions), which were able to stop the paralysis from going any higher or attacking respiratory system. It's now a waiting game. The family (mom, dad, Ameliya and 8-month-old Clara) have been living in Ottawa at a local motel close to the hospital to be at Ameliyas bedside 24/7. Between lodging, food, hospital stay, gas, and dad not able to work full time, the family is having a hard time keeping up financially. They have neighbours, friends and family back home in Brockville helping look after their house, 2 dogs and 2 cats, but they need some additional help. Doctors are expecting a full recovery from Ameliya, but it will take some time. They're expected to be in Ottawa for another 2 weeks for inpatient intense Physiotherapy, and are hoping to be released home soon, to continue outpatient therapy at the local Pediatric Physiotherapy clinic. The Rehabilitation team at CHEO is in the works to order a customized leg brace for Ameliyas right leg, which was the most affected, and still immobile. This brace is very expensive and not covered under benefits or insurance. This family has been through a lot, and have a long road to recovery ahead of them. Anything we can do to help them out would be incredibly appreciated.