For those of you who don’t know Arya’s story, she was diagnosed with Mild Spastic Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy at 7 months old after she had her first seizure. Arya’s seizures seemed to be controlled by medication until February of this year when Ben & Sadie noticed Arya was having what turns out to be Myoclonic Seizures. After taking multiple trips to Milwaukee for appointments, overnight EEG’s, multiple aggressive medication changes, a 4-week dose of Prednisolone Steriods, & all the countless side effects Arya had to deal with she was officially diagnosed with Severe Drug-Resistant Epilepsy with Epileptic Spasms, Myoclonic Seizures, and Tonic-Clonic Seizures (Grand Mal). It turns out with all the abnormal activity going on for so long, the healthy side of her brain started to mimic the damaged side, causing some speech and motor regression.

Now, Arya’s only option to hopefully be seizure free is to have a right side Hemispherotomy Surgery. This is a rare surgery where they will disconnect the right half of her brain so that half can no longer communicate with her body or the left half of her brain. Arya’s scheduled Hemispherotomy Surgery is

August 13th.

Arya will have a long, hard road to recovery with developmental & cognitive regression. She’ll be going to daily Intensive Physical Therapy & Occupational Therapy everyday for 6-8 weeks, lots of follow up appointments with her Neuro team, & she will have to adjust losing half her vision with a very good chance of her needing to have another Double Strabismus Surgery, & so many more possible risks/outcomes they’re trying to be prepared for. The list is never ending.

Ben and Sadie are doing everything in their power to keep their heads above water and to get Arya the best care possible all while caring for their 9 month old daughter Melody. They’re doing amazing to make sure Arya has the best summer she can have by doing all of her favorite activities like taking her to park, swimming, UTV rides, having picnics, spending lots of time with her grandparents, outdoor time, & playing with her little sister Melody.

Life can be really unfair sometimes, but through it all Arya is without a doubt the sweetest, strongest, motivated, smartest and bravest little girl I have the pleasure to call my granddaughter.

Everything raised will help Ben and Sadie with bills, travel expenses, medical, food, & any other unexpected costs. Any donations to help sweet Arya get all the care she needs will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!