Help Fund Gia Wright's Medical Journey

"Thank you for taking the time to read Gia’s story.  On April 16th, 2019,  Gia Harper Emiko Wright was born at 6:47am.  She weighed 8 pounds 15 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.  
     Gia was quickly whisked away from us and taken to NICU.  Thankfully Kaiser was on top of it and knew something wasn’t right. We pretty quickly found out that Gia’s heart was enlarged and had Pulmonary Hypertension, and that they noticed a big amount of her blood flow was going to an unknown area.  The cardiologist requested a MRI be done on Gia’s head, but she was too unstable to take.  In the meantime they tried and ultrasound to see if they’d be able to see/find anything.  Unfortunately they found that Gia had had a big AVM in her brain.  Kaiser advised that Gia needed some special treatment and that we would likely be transferred to another hospital.
     On April 17th we found out that Gia would be transferred to Ronald Reagan UCLA, Mattel Children’s Hospital.  Kaiser let us know that we would be in the best place possible for Gia’s condition.  Gia was then transported to UCLA, where they completed an echo and MRI.  It was then confirmed that Gia had a very rare disease called Vein of Galen Malformation.  The incidence of this VOGM (Vein of Galen Malformation) is one in 3 million.  The next days were very overwhelming with news and information.  There’s not much information online about VOGM, but if you have any questions please research it yourself.   The VOGM is the reason her heart is enlarged, overworking, and trending towards heart failure.  
     On Monday April 22nd Gia went down for her first procedure.  During the procedure they go into her brain and shoot coils and glue in the AVM to slow down her blood flow, in hopes to help her heart.  After about six hours we got the call from the doctor stating that they thought the procedure was a success and that they got about 20% of the blood flow stopped.  Now we’re told that we have to wait to see how her body reacts.  
     Unfortunately Gia’s body didn’t respond how they would’ve liked to the procedure.  On Thursday April 25th Gia went down for her second procedure. This time the doctors felt that they blocked a total of about 50% of the blood flow.  This all sounded like great news.  After Gia’s procedure some other complications arose.  She had a collapsed right lung, fever, swollen stomach, seizures, and more.  The following week is when she became stable.  Gia’s body didn’t respond as much as they had thought it would.
     On Monday April 29th we had a meeting with the NICU team, Neurology, and Interventional Radiology to come up with a plan for Gia.  IR advised that they wanted to do another procedure since Gia didn’t respond as much as they had hoped to the last procedure.  They’re hoping that Gia will really respond to this next procedure, as they would like this next procedure to be the last one for some time so that Gia could grow and get stronger.  Through a MRI they were able to make a plan of action to target the bigger arteries to help slow down the blood flow some more.
     On Thursday May 2nd Gia went down for her third procedure.  This time the doctors feel like they’ve stopped an additional 15-20% of the blood flow, totaling 65-70% stopped.  Since her third procedure, Gia has made some progress.  They’ve been able to slowly decrease some of her medications as well as her ventilator settings.  She’s been having some good nights and days, but we still have a long road ahead of us.  We’re enjoying the good, but are very cautious because anything can happen.
     Some exciting news - on Friday May 3rd Melissa got to hold Gia for the first time.  
      Gia is a miracle and God has truly blessed us with her."  



This GoFundMe page was created for Gia Wright so that Melissa and Greg can focus on what is the most important in their lives, that is to make sure Gia is fully supported not only from a medical perspective but from a financial standpoint. 

Thankful to have the ability to share their story through this platform, that you are reading this story, and if you are able and willing to provide what you can, I know that Greg, Melissa, Derrick, and Gia are beyond grateful for you.  The beneficiaries of this campaign will be Greg and Melissa.  If you are not able to provide from a monetary perspective, please keep Gia in your thoughts and pray for them!

Thank you and God bless.