We’re doing this to help earn funds to meet financial needs while we are in the hospital with our daughter Aryana.

On April 9, my daughter came down with high fevers and started throwing up at 5 o’clock in the morning. We gave her a dose of Motrin and put her back to bed, thinking that maybe it was just a viral illness. Later that morning, she was still spiking a high fever, so we took her to the hospital. The hospital diagnosed her with strep and then sent her home with antibiotics, failing to run a viral panel on her. That night, she spiked a 104.8° fever, and we brought her to Children's where she was diagnosed with enterovirus and rhinovirus. They got her fever under control and sent us home Sunday morning.

We spent that Sunday at home, and by the time I took her to her follow-up appointment on Monday, her temperature was back at 103.8°. They put us in White River Hospital and kept us from Monday till Thursday and let us go on Thursday, April 17, assuring us that she was on the downhill side of this viral illness and that she was going to be OK. By Easter Sunday, all of her symptoms had returned and gotten worse. So we took her back to White River Hospital. By the time we got there, her levels were all out of whack. Her inflammation levels were high, her hemoglobin levels were low, among other labs that were really messed up at this point. They felt like they were no longer equipped to treat her and sent us here to Children’s Hospital via ambulance.

We have been here at Children's since Easter. When we got here, she also tested positive on top of the other viruses for adenovirus, mono, and human parvovirus B19. They started her on Rocephin antibiotics and fluids, but she started to limp when walking and got to where she did not want to get out of bed. We explained to them that this was not our normal child, that she is our most hyper one, and that this was not normal activity for her. They then did a leg MRI, which came back clear and still did not explain why she was having a hard time walking. So they went from that to doing an MRI of her spine. When they did this, they found an abscess that was on the lower part of her spine, where her hip bones, lower discs, spinal cord, and nerve endings to her leg meet at the bottom of her spine. They then set up surgery and went in to clear out the infection. They cultured the infection, and it came back that she had staph growing on the lower inside part of her spine. The surgery that they had to do to get it out was very extensive. She now cannot walk and is having to learn how to do everything all over again.

They have her on IV fluids, a bunch of pain medication, and some strong antibiotics trying to get her better. She is also seeing physical therapy four times a week and seeing her doctors every day. We think we are on the right path, but we still have a long way to full recovery, and they are planning on us being here until the end of May or beginning of June, if not longer, depending on how her physical therapy goes and how the images they take here in another week and a half look to see if the infection is clearing up or not.

Due to us having to be here, it has put us into a huge financial bind, and it has been an emotional roller coaster for us and our other kids at home who are not able to be here with us at the moment due to hospital policies. We understand times are hard for everyone, but if you have it to spare, we are trying to humble ourselves and ask for help to get through this hard and difficult time in our life. Our daughter is only two, and we miss her hyper, wild-spirited self. So if you could find it in your heart to help us, we would be greatly appreciative. If you financially can’t, even a prayer for her recovery and the doctors who are treating her would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.