Life saving brain surgery...Bailey's 1st step

On Saturday, August 8th, 2020, my daughter-in-law Bailey underwent lifesaving brain surgery to remove an AVM Cavernous Malformation that had pooled blood the size of a quarter on her brain stem; this just 3 weeks after giving birth to her daughter. Her neurosurgeon expressed to her pre-surgery that she was lucky to be alive as she was a walking ticking time bomb. The road to recovery will be a long arduous journey for her, hurdling not just the physical difficulties, but financial ones as well. Prayers are the number one request for my sweet family, but if you feel led to help out financially as well, we would be utterly grateful.

 

This is her BACKSTORY:

First off, my name is Ruth. This is a story about my son Tanner and his wife Bailey. They have been married over 6 ½ years now and have 2 children, Beau and Oakley-who call me ‘Mimi’. I put together this GoFundMe page as a way to: a) tell their story and ask for your prayers, b) reach out to the masses to ask for your help, should you be led, for my son and his family with their uncovered medical costs due to Bailey’s life-saving brain surgery.

Bailey and Tanner are by no means immune to walking through difficult times. During their first pregnancy with Beau in 2017, they found out at their 20-week ultrasound that Beau had what’s called ‘Gastroschisis’ which is where his little intestines were growing outside his body. What once was supposed to be a joyous time-expecting your first baby, was filled with fear, anxiety, frustration, confusion and more. Beau was born at 37 weeks and immediately underwent surgery to repair his Gastroschisis. The original forecast for his recovery was to spend 8-weeks in the NICU, as well as prepare for any further complications. By the grace of God and what we call a miracle, Beau was released to go home and join his mom and dad after spending just 4 weeks recovering and healing in the NICU. I am happy to report he is a vibrantly healthy thriving 2 ½ year old.

A few years go by and all 3 of them were thrilled to be expecting their second child. Memories of the first pregnancy and all they went through were of course knocking on the door of their minds. Even though Gastroschisis isn’t an inherited condition, the mind still wanders. They were relieved when an ultrasound revealed the new baby was developing exactly like she should. Everything was going great until about 20 weeks into the pregnancy when Bailey began experiencing weakness and numbness on her left side. She was suddenly unable to grasp weights at the gym or hold Beau’s little hand. As her pregnancy progressed, her numbness and weakness got worse and worse, to the point where she could no longer walk without assistance or feel her face. The numbness of the left side of her mouth even made eating and talking challenging. During her third trimester of pregnancy, doctors weren’t able to find anything causing the numbness and everyone hoped that once Bailey delivered her baby, her body would return to normal regaining back the feeling as well as muscle strength.

On July 14, 2020, a healthy baby girl, Oakley Rae was born. Everyone was ecstatic for not just the new arrival, but also the hope of return to normalcy of Bailey’s body. Two weeks postpartum, Bailey’s symptoms were not improving but rather growing worse each day with additional vertigo to add to the list. How is it possible that this sweet little family of mine went through trauma once only to have to walk through fire a second time around?! All that Bailey had wished for was to have a new and different experience with her daughter, coming home from the hospital immediately after birth to enjoy her new family-the four of them now.

 At three weeks postpartum Bailey was finally able to see a neurologist who ordered an MRI for Aug 6, 2020. Once the test was completed they were told they would hear back what the results were within a few days. About 40 minutes after leaving the MRI office, Bailey received a call from her neurologist and finally had an answer: she had an AVM or arteriovenous malformation in/on her brainstem. An AVM is a tangle of abnormal blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in the brain.

The neurologist told her on the phone that this was outside her expertize and had referred her to a specialist at Swedish Cherry Hill, Seattle WA, where an appointment to meet face to face with the specialist was scheduled for the next day. Processing this information brought great emotion for both Bailey and Tanner as they finally had an answer, but weren’t sure what the future held. She was then instructed to head to the ER as soon as possible for an evaluation by the surgeon. During their visit to the ER, they found out more information about her condition. More specifically it was called a Cavernous Malformation and had bled (the size of a quarter) in her brain stem which caused pressure to build up causing the weakness and numbness on her entire left side. They determined at this time that she should keep her appointment with the neurosurgeon on Friday and sent her home to be with her family.

 Friday afternoon came and Tanner and Bailey met her neurosurgeon for the first time. He explained to them that she was very lucky to be alive because the size of the bleed in her brain should have killed her, and that basically she was a “ticking time bomb” for it to start bleeding again, this time for sure proving fatal. Surgery was originally scheduled for the next Tuesday – 4 days later, which didn’t settle well with either of them, but as Tanner drove Bailey home, they received a call saying that the neurosurgeon would perform surgery the very next day! So Bailey went home, packed her things, and not knowing what the outcome would be, said a tearful goodbye to Oakley and her brother Beau, and returned to the hospital that night for admittance.

 On 8/10/2020, just 4 days after her MRI, Bailey underwent brain surgery at which took 6 ½ hours to complete. The surgeon said they were able to remove the entire AVM and bleeding which was the very best outcome. As Bailey awoke from surgery, though quite dizzy, amazingly she could feel her entire left side again with no numbness, however she was still unable to move arm/leg.



Again as with Beau, by the grace of God and what we call another miracle, just 3 days after undergoing brain surgery, she was discharged from the hospital to begin her road to healing at home.

Bailey has a long arduous recovery ahead of her. The doctor has told her to expect it to take anywhere between 6 months – 2 years to regain full use of her arm/hand/leg based on prior case studies with this condition. She will need regular, ongoing physical and occupational therapy during her recovery period, which with a 2 ½ year old and newborn brings another whole level of perseverance.

Bailey is one who never gives up without a fight. In fact, during her pregnancy, she completed her coursework and received her NASM CPT certification as a personal trainer, even while dealing with her condition. She’s an avid exercise enthusiast as well as both marathon and half-marathon finisher. She’s focused, determined and persistent. We are praying Bailey back and remain hopeful that she will return to 100%, so she can continue doing what she loves.

First and foremost, we are asking for your help in praying for Bailey’s return to 100% healed. And secondly, if you feel led to help them out financially during this time to help cover the costs of uncovered medical expenses during this difficult time, we would all be beyond blessed.