Help Get Leslie Back on Her Feet!

Hello Friends and Family.

As some of you know, on Sunday, August 21st, around midday, Leslie was playing Flag Football (catching touchdowns) when she developed a severe migraine. She tried to tough it out and spent the afternoon resting but around 9:00 pm the pain had grown substantially and her blood pressure had reached dangerously high levels, prompting us to head to the ER.

Leslie was treated for a migraine and the doctors did their best to mitigate her pain, but around 1:00 am she experienced severe blinding pain and lost some vision in her left eye. After continuous monitoring the ER team decided to do a CT scan to evaluate her brain for any bleeding and discovered a ruptured brain aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhaging.

She was helivaced immediately from Rose Hospital to Swedish Hospital and rushed to the Neuro ICU. By 11:00 am on Monday morning she was undergoing surgery to coil the aneurysm. Aneurysm coiling is a process where a small coil is inserted through an artery and threaded to the location of the aneurysm. Once the coil is inserted into the aneurysm, the body produces a blood clot inside the aneurysm that helps seal it off and strengthens the artery wall, reducing the risk of a future artery rupture. One small coil managed to escape the aneurysm, so a stent was inserted into the artery to keep the coil pressed into the artery wall and the keep the vessel open and allow blood flow.

Leslie was stabilized and came to later in the evening, right in time for her to greet her Mom (Nina!). The following morning we met with the team of Doctors and Nurses caring for Leslie and got an update on the treatment plan and next steps.

What I have described above is referred to as Act I of a three act play. Act II is where the continuous monitoring and constant treatment becomes critical. After a brain bleed occurs, the blood in the brain irritates the arteries. The abnormal presence of blood in the cerebrospinal fluid causes the vessels to clamp down (spasm), which shuts off the blood flow to the brain. Severe vasospasms can lead to stroke and permanent damage to the brain tissue, so this is a critical stage. The doctors have a full plan in place for the severity of the vasospasms and we feel confident with every level of treatment. The key right now is to monitor Leslie’s behavior for any pattern changes (sudden change in muscular control, mood changes, speech pattern difficulties, etc) to help identify where in the brain the spasm is occurring.

Luckily, Leslie’s sister Hilary was able to join us today after driving through the night! We are so grateful for all the support and love from everyone. The next few days will be critical for Leslie and the support from all of you makes such a difference to her morale.

The team at Swedish is currently anticipating a 3 week hospital stay followed by a transfer to the rehab facility on campus. Given the prolonged treatment and recovery timeframe we are setting Leslie’s initial GoFundMe level at $20,000, but the final number will be dependent on her recovery and this number will likely rise. We will use this page to update everyone as often as possible with any news on Leslie. She wants everyone to know she loves you and she is holding strong, not to mention she is in a yellow hospital gown, which is her “power color.”