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Caitlin's story:
On Wednesday February 25, 2009 we took Caitlin to our pediatrician Dr. Karen Zorek, for headaches. Prior to this she had the flu and we thought she was dehydrated. It had been going on for awhile so Dr. Zorek suggested we get a CT scan. The scan results were irregular so Dr. Zorek sent us to Children's hospital that afternoon. We saw Dr. Sean Lew and he said we needed a MRI to get a better idea what exactly was wrong. We checked Caitlin into Children's that evening and the next day she had her MRI. The MRI indicated she had a posterior brain aneurysm. They needed to operate the following morning. Because of how rare brain aneurysms are in children, Dr. Lew teamed with Dr. Zaidit from Froedert, an expert in aneurysm coiling. Dr. Lew was very optimistic that it was treatable. He did caution us on the side affects of the procedure being that Caitlin could have a stroke and her vision could be compromised or even worse it could be fatal.
On Friday morning we meet with Dr. Zaidit. He explained the procedure; what he expected, how long it would take and again the possible side effects. Then we took Caitlin into the operating room and said our goodbyes.
Approximately an hour or so later Dr. Zaidit came out and told us that instead of finding a typical aneurysm bulge in the artery the entire integrity of the artery was compromised. He described it as a complete artery "blow out" requiring him to "sacrifice the vessel" and take the whole artery out of play. This would more than likely result in a stroke, seizures and some degree of vision loss. To do nothing would be fatal. Caitlin was still under the anesthia so we had to quickly consent to the procedure and Dr Zaidit returned to surgery. After 6 hours of surgery, this highly talented medical team not only saved Caitlin but she never had any of the possible side effects.
Caitlin left Children's hospital on March 3, one week from when she arrived. We cannot thank the staff enough for saving Caitlin. From the doctors, nurses and volunteers everyone treated us so kind and considerate. The Children's hospital team will always be heroes in our hearts. Their skill, knowledge and compassion has blessed us with returning Caitlin back to our family. We believe that Children's hospital has changed our family for the better. After everything that has happened it has brought us out of our "safe bubble." It has made us aware of all the people around us whose lives are affected by so many challenges on a daily basis. If Children's hospital had not been here our lives could have been dramatically different. Who knows how Mark and I would have recovered from the loss of a child and how her sister Abby would have recovered from the loss of a big sister. Fortunately we do not have to find out.
Thank you for visiting our site and for your donation. Mark, Chris, Caitlin and Abby Robel
