Emma Rose

As some of you all may know, my two year old niece has been very sick. She was sick for 2 weeks with what the doctors thought was a simple virus. She had a fever, wouldn’t eat anything and slept all day and night. The first time she went to the hospital they did a chest X-ray to make sure she did not have pneumonia. It came back negative. The doctors told my sister to keep her on ibuprofen and Tylenol for now to keep the fever down..  4 days later Emma still had a fever and was sleeping all day and night and still not eating. Only now, she was walking unsteady, falling over and would not talk to anyone. The only thing she would say was mommy and daddy. And would not want touched at all. My sister took her back up to the hospital (Monday 12/3/18), and the doctors immediately wanted to do blood work, a urinalysis, chest X-ray and a neck X-ray due to swelling. They tried to use a catheter to collect a urine sample, twice. Both times with no luck. So they decided to use a bag to catch urine, it came back negative. She got an IV for fluids, and her chest X-ray came back normal, her neck X-ray came back showing that she had swollen tissue. And her blood work showed that she had a high white blood cell count, which shows an infection. After still unable to find answers, they decided to do a CT scan for her neck to see if it was a form of bronchitis. That came back negative as well. Due to all of these negative test results, They decided to do a spinal tap, to test for meningitis. The doctors were leaning more towards bacterial meningitis which can cause severe brain damage an could affect her for the rest of her life. The doctors decided to put her on antibiotics just in case. Her white blood cell count in the fluid that was around her brain was suppose to be at 0, hers were in the 500’s. On Tuesday, her white blood cell count had went down a little, but Emma still had a fever. This fever has lasted for 9 days in a row up to this point. The doctor said 10 days is a very long time for the fever and if she still had it Wednesday, they would need to do more testing. Tuesday night, the doctor was already leaning toward more testing because her fever was not budging. On Wednesday, they did a CT scan, where it showed a sack of infection by her brain. Emma was then transferred to Riley, by ambulance, where they could do further testing. Thankfully her doctor at Hendricks was kept In close communication with her (now) doctor at Riley. The neurosurgeon at Riley said they found an abscess between her brain and the lining of her brain, which is causing pressure and therefore making her so sleepy. After doing an MRI and being intubated, The doctors took her right into the OR for surgery. The doctors are still unsure what or if there has been any damage done to her brain. They also are saying that Emma may have to have multiple surgeries if they do not get the infection out or if it comes back.

My sister (Alysa) also has a son, my nephew, and he is only 3 months old. She is currently a student, and is being told that they will have to be there for quite some time since they are having to do surgery on her brain, and multiple more surgeries. Alysa (Mother) and Jamal (Father) are missing a lot of work an could use absolutely any help they can get. Any donations will go to food, gas expenses (to and from hospital) , and bills. And all access donations will go straight into any hospital expenses. I would like to personally thank every one who donates in advance, it is very much appreciated! 

I also would like to thank anyone who has prayed and is still praying for this sweet babygirl and our family, as we hope she recovers from this quickly!!!