Help for Baby Helena

On December 31, 2021, we welcomed Helena Marie Theis to the family. She was born full-term and weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. She went home Sunday, January 2, 2022, as a healthy baby girl.

On Friday, January 14, 2022 (her two-week birthday), Taylor (Mom) started to feed Helena when she started to have a seizure. Taylor and Will (Dad) rushed Helena to the Emergency Room in Shawano, where they attempted to stop the seizure for 30 minutes. Once the initial seizure stopped with the use of medication, they transferred Helena to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Green Bay via ambulance.

Baby Helena was admitted to the NICU where they ran many tests to determine the cause of the seizure. The neonatologists started with a head ultrasound and discovered she had a brain hemorrhage. Later that night, the pediatric neurologist set her up with an EEG to monitor seizure activity in order to adjust her medicine accordingly. It was essential to get the seizures under control before the doctors could investigate the brain hemorrhage further with an MRI. After six long days, they were finally able to get the seizures under control and complete their imaging. It was confirmed that the seizures were a direct result of the brain hemorrhage. Additionally, Helena started to burn high degree fevers as a result of the blood irritation. She also regressed in her eating habits.

The following days included more testing, getting her fevers under control, and relearning how to drink from a bottle. Helena began improving, and it appeared as if she might be ready to go home. On Monday, January 24th, a head ultrasound was scheduled to check the status of her brain hemorrhage. Upon receiving the results, the physicians at St. Vincent’s had consulted with the physicians at Children’s Hospital. It was determined that Helena needed to be immediately transferred to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee for surgical intervention for hydrocephalus. Essentially, as the brain was trying to handle the hemorrhage, her blood began to prevent her spinal fluid from flowing naturally within her body. This in turn trapped the fluid inside her brain, causing her brain to expand from the pressure. Within two hours, Children’s Hospital arrived and sent Helena on her way.

Once Helena arrived at Children’s Hospital, she was taken to a pediatric intensive care unit. The plan was for surgery to happen immediately; however, the staff needed to re-verify a multitude of tests. Throughout the week, Helena was subjected to another EEG test to confirm that her seizures were under control. Most importantly, hematology had wanted to rule out a blood disorder that would complicate her surgery. Each day, Helena had to prepare for surgery in hopes the hematology results would come in. Finally, on January 28th, her results came in normal and Helena was finally ready for her surgery. The surgery consisted of putting a reservoir in her head that connects to the ventricles where the spinal fluid/blood has accumulated. The surgeons can then withdraw excess spinal fluid/blood with a needle to reduce pressure on her brain as needed. The surgeons are monitoring her in the hospital over the next few weeks. This is to see how Helena’s body will continue to handle the hemorrhage and determine if a more permanent solution is needed.

Thank you for reading their story. This GoFundMe is set up to help the family offset costs for Helena’s medical expenses, the family’s travel needs, and lost wages. We will provide updates as we know more about the go-forward plan.