My name is Gabriela Chavis and I am humbly reaching out for donations to assist our family with our daughter's medical bills as a result of recent brain surgery. Below is a recap of recent events.

Vanessa's Declining Health

It’s been one year and 8 months since Vanessa became very ill and I was told that she couldn’t be left alone. In early December of 2019, I took a leave of absence to be home with her. She had her first gran mal seizure and and our lives completely changed. I resigned from LBUSD after being with them for 28.5 years. Dustin supported me 100% in making this decision. I thank God that thanks to my husband, Dustin, I was able to be Vanessa’s full time caregiver. Vanessa had her second gran mal seizure at the airport in Los Cabos in January on our way to Leon, Guanajuato to see the neurosurgeon that had operated on my grandpa which is the one that is now taking care of Vanessa. We actually ran into our uncle that is the Pueblo’s doctor and he referred us to his close friend that is a neurosurgeon in Los Mochis, Sinaloa. In early February, less than a week after Vanessa and I got back from Guanajuato, we flew to Los Mochis, Sinaloa to meet with him. We met with him for a week and it was then that we learned of why Vanessa’s medical issues had surfaced. After we returned, we had a plan for the next step, but then the pandemic struck weeks after we returned. During that time, Vanessa and I both fell into depression and I had high anxiety. She was frustrated with the fact that she couldn’t drive, work, go to school, be with with her friends, etc. I struggled to stay afloat and felt that I could barely take care of myself. How was I supposed to take care of her? Once again, Dustin helped me. He assisted in keeping our home moving during this very difficult time. Then in August, Vanessa had very scary psychotic episodes and after going to the ER 4 times in one week, she was admitted to the hospital. That was when we learned that her brain had shrunk by 40 years. The doctors ran every test possible and sent her home after two weeks. They said that Vanessa’s case is a very rare one and they couldn’t pinpoint the disease that was causing it. At that time they said that they thought that she had a rare autoimmune disease. I begun a natural treatment for her and months later, I was told that she no longer had an AID. The treatment worked! I was also told by my uncle that is a doctor that all of the meds that they had her on, could potentially kill her. It was too much for her age & body weight. Once again, I gave her supplements that detox your body. Specifically to clean her blood, liver and kidneys. It worked! She is still taking them. She was doing much better. I was able to work outside of the house in November and on. Her health was looking up. Then on July 7th after not sleeping well for a few days, she had her 3rd gran mal seizure. It was the worst that I had experienced with her. On 7/18 she was back in the ER due to having another seizure. I did not witness that one because I had gone to church that morning. Dustin called me to tell me that Vanessa had come out crying from her room and she had said that she was shaking. After being in the ER for twelve hours, the doctors told us that she had a possible brain hemorrhage. Then we were told that she didn’t have it after all and sent us home. Four days later, we were back in the ER because Vanessa was having another psychotic episode. The neurosurgeon then told us that her brain was that of a 90 year old woman and she was admitted to the hospital for 5 days. After more tests and stabilizing Vanessa, they sent her home on Monday, 7/26/21.

7/27/21 -

The following day with some financial help from our Tío Javier, I purchased one way flight tickets to Leon, Guanajuato. My parents drove us to Tijuana to stay in a hotel and the following morning we flew to Leon. Once we left the airport, I called the neurosurgeon’s office to make an appointment and we were told to be there the next day at 1:00 PM. Then the doctor decided that it was best to admit her to the hospital while he ran several tests. He moved along very quickly and he told me that she had excessive fluid in her brain. I was able to see my Vanessa start to come back to life after he removed some of it through a spinal tap. 3 days later, he said that there was no sense in us staying there while we waited for the shunt to arrive.

The Surgery

8/8 - After a difficult 5.5 hour long surgery, the doc said that everything went well and Vanessa is recovering well. We will have to stay here for about another month or so while the doctor keeps an eye on Vanessa through regularly scheduled appointments.

Why we need help

Since we had to fly to Mexico to get a proper diagnosis of sorts and have the brain surgery performed, none of this is covered by our insurance. This is where we need your help! The surgery alone totals $16000. This does not include the hospital stay. Any donation amount is greatly appreciated by Vanessa and family.

God Bless ❤️