Helping Julia Conquer Chiari
Donation protected
My cousin, Julia Ashtyn Lazaro has been an avid dancer since she was two years old. Growing up, she has gained many accolades through the years, including the title of Junior Miss Dance of Louisiana in 2010 with the Louisiana Association Dance Masters. She was chosen to dance with the Martha Grahams Dance Company as well as being invited to dance at the Bill Gates Microsoft Convention in New Orleans. She is bright, beautiful, funny, and full of engery; her close family and friends call her, "The Energizer Bunny."
All of this took a dramatic turn when she suddenly became ill with a severe headache and blurred vision on October 7, 2013. From that moment on, she and her family would travel back and forth to the emergency room, doctor visits, and hospitalizations at Childrens Hospital in New Orleans. She has had numerous tests, blood drawn, CT scans, and MRI's. During an appointment at Children's in November, Julia was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation; which has changed her whole life.
She eventually had to resign her position as "student" at NOCCA and give up her dreams of being a professional dancer and resume her life taking it day by day. Some of her main and most common symptoms have included: debilitating headaches, severe nauseau, blurred vision, lost vision in one eye for brief periods of time, painful ringing in her ears, leg numbness, involuntary hand twitching, trouble swallowing, and has been recently diagnosed with POTS; a condition often associated with Chiari. She will also undego genetic testing to see if she has EDS(connective tissue disorder), which is another condition associated with Chiari. With lots of exhausting research and a blessing from God's guidance, her parents came across Dr. Holly Gilmer from Detroit, Michigan who is a TOP specialist in Chiari Malformation. There they set up an appointment and traveled on March 28, 2014 to meet Dr. Gilmer and discuss her condition. Dr. Gilmer ran test of her own, studied her medical reports and scans, and confirmed that She had Chairi Malformation. Her diagnosis was a mucher larger herniation than thought. She found it to be 14mm (which contradicted what Children's had first said) with a compressed brain stem and almost a complete spinal fluid blockage. Surgery is now scheduled for October 1, 2014 @ Beaumont Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. There, Dr. Gilmer will perform a posterior fossa decompression. This is a surgical procedure performed to remove the bone at the back of the skull and spine. The dura overlying the tonsils is opened and a patch is sewn to expand the space, similar to letting out the waistband on a pair of pants. The goals of surgery are to stop or control the progression of symptoms caused by tonsillar herniation, to relieve compression of the brainstem and spinal cord, and to restore the normal flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). This will require a 5-7 day minimum stay in the hospital (that is with 0 complications) or longer, just depending. They will not be able to leave Detroit until her follow up appointment which will be 1 week post surgery.
I know we serve a miracle working God, a God who is the same yesterday, today and forever {Heb 13:8}. He is a God who protected Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from a blazing hot fire, He healed the lame, and caused the blind to see. He is still healing people daily and I know He will lead Dr. Gilmer's hand and heal Julia Ashtyn.
This will not be cheap; there is airfare, nightly hotel stays at a minimum of 15 days, food, bills, gas, car rental, etc. Before they can even pay for this they need to come up with at least $10 thousand for other medical expenses. So If you could please give a monetary donation, it would be greatly appreciated.
http://www.conquerchiari.org/index.html
All of this took a dramatic turn when she suddenly became ill with a severe headache and blurred vision on October 7, 2013. From that moment on, she and her family would travel back and forth to the emergency room, doctor visits, and hospitalizations at Childrens Hospital in New Orleans. She has had numerous tests, blood drawn, CT scans, and MRI's. During an appointment at Children's in November, Julia was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation; which has changed her whole life.
She eventually had to resign her position as "student" at NOCCA and give up her dreams of being a professional dancer and resume her life taking it day by day. Some of her main and most common symptoms have included: debilitating headaches, severe nauseau, blurred vision, lost vision in one eye for brief periods of time, painful ringing in her ears, leg numbness, involuntary hand twitching, trouble swallowing, and has been recently diagnosed with POTS; a condition often associated with Chiari. She will also undego genetic testing to see if she has EDS(connective tissue disorder), which is another condition associated with Chiari. With lots of exhausting research and a blessing from God's guidance, her parents came across Dr. Holly Gilmer from Detroit, Michigan who is a TOP specialist in Chiari Malformation. There they set up an appointment and traveled on March 28, 2014 to meet Dr. Gilmer and discuss her condition. Dr. Gilmer ran test of her own, studied her medical reports and scans, and confirmed that She had Chairi Malformation. Her diagnosis was a mucher larger herniation than thought. She found it to be 14mm (which contradicted what Children's had first said) with a compressed brain stem and almost a complete spinal fluid blockage. Surgery is now scheduled for October 1, 2014 @ Beaumont Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. There, Dr. Gilmer will perform a posterior fossa decompression. This is a surgical procedure performed to remove the bone at the back of the skull and spine. The dura overlying the tonsils is opened and a patch is sewn to expand the space, similar to letting out the waistband on a pair of pants. The goals of surgery are to stop or control the progression of symptoms caused by tonsillar herniation, to relieve compression of the brainstem and spinal cord, and to restore the normal flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). This will require a 5-7 day minimum stay in the hospital (that is with 0 complications) or longer, just depending. They will not be able to leave Detroit until her follow up appointment which will be 1 week post surgery.
I know we serve a miracle working God, a God who is the same yesterday, today and forever {Heb 13:8}. He is a God who protected Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from a blazing hot fire, He healed the lame, and caused the blind to see. He is still healing people daily and I know He will lead Dr. Gilmer's hand and heal Julia Ashtyn.
This will not be cheap; there is airfare, nightly hotel stays at a minimum of 15 days, food, bills, gas, car rental, etc. Before they can even pay for this they need to come up with at least $10 thousand for other medical expenses. So If you could please give a monetary donation, it would be greatly appreciated.
http://www.conquerchiari.org/index.html
Organizer
Jessica Marie
Organizer
Covington, LA
