Putting this together for my Daughter Gia. Since Kindergarten, we had always done the whole first day of school pictures that all parents do, excited for our children's first day back to school. This year's was going to be special for her because it was her freshman year and she was so excited to finally attend High-school. But that picture never came. On Jun 11th around 4am, she came to our room complaining of a major headache and her speech was slurred. We rushed her to the local hospital, and the Dr. performed a CT scan which showed a mass on her left frontal lobe which he believed was a "considerable sized tumor." Needless to say, we were devastated, and she was immediately rushed by ambulance to the ICU at Dell Children's Hospital in Austin where she was given an immediate MRI as well as extensive blood tests. Her MRI showed the same mass so they took her into surgery for a biopsy and to get a physical look at her brain. They came back from surgery with news that what they initially thought was a tumor, was major swelling in her left frontal lobe, and they were clueless as to why. They considered the fact that it could be one of a few things, including a form of cancer, to even an amoeba that infects the brain and is usually fatal within a few days. We were at a point where we just felt so helpless. After 8 days of tests, and heavy doses of antibiotic which left her extremely nauseated and unable to eat or drink without becoming nauseated enough to expel anything she tried to take in, and finding no evidence of cancer, or the amoeba, they were finally able to pinpoint her ailment. She was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease called sjogrens syndrome (which she'sapparently had for her entire life but it never presented itself), which caused her immune system to turn on her body, and that caused vasculitis in an artery in her brain which caused the swelling, speech issues, and balance issues, all similar to stroke because the swelling restricted blood flow. They immediately took her off of the antibiotics, and started a heavy dose of steroids to help alleviate the swelling and also started a chemo infusion to calm her immune system and to stop it from causing anymore damage than it had already caused to that point. She had an immediate positive response to that treatment and she was able to eat and hold food down, as well as to function in a capacity that was the Gia we all knew. Her speech started to become clear and her personality came back and we knew that what they were doing was working to get her back to as normal a place as possible to that point. We went from complete despair, to filled with hope. The ailment had a treatment process that would help her to recover and carry on with her young and happy life. And as parents, we couldnt be more thankful for that news. So, 3 months later, we are at a point to where she's nearing the end of her chemo infusion treatment, which is once a month in an outpatient setting for 6 months, her daily regiment of steroids which have been gradually decreasing over that time from 60mg to 30mg with a goal of zero soon, as well as a medication that she takes once per day in a single pill form for the sjogrens syndrome she was diagnosed with. Her health is coming back to a place where she is finally going to be able to attend her first day of high-school and go back to the normal life she always knew before! A couple more months of treatment, speech therapy, and occupational therapy and my big girl will be able to resume life as a teenager. And her first day school pic that we didn't get to take for the first time since kindergarten. My wife has taken this time off from work to be able to help her recover and get back to normal, and we have insurance that has taken up the bulk of the unexpected bills but we are asking for donations to help cover expenses that it didn't, and get my little girl back to life as we knew it. Of course, she'll need life long treatment because this is an auto-immune issue, but that is something that she can live with and go on with her life as a normal teenager into adulthood with medication and keeping up with her health in all ways a normal person would. If you can lend a hand, your kindness will go a long way in helping to get back there as soon as possible, and us to breathe a sigh of relief in that process. I understand how hard it is to help with funds of any kind right now, and I don't expect it, but if you are able to we are deeply appreciative. Thank you for reading to this point, and for your generosity. All funds collected will be used to cover expenses and bills incurred.