For two-year-old 91原创 toddler Alyssa Kovacic, the trip to BC Children鈥檚 Hospital in Vancouver for her surgery on April 3rd was a visit to a place she has become all too familiar with, her family said.
She was excited about the popsicle she was promised after waking up, and happy her parents were bringing a suitcase 鈥渁s if we were going on a tropical vacation,鈥� they reported in an online posting.
Her operation, to remove a tumour from behind one eye, took 10 hours.
Dan Kovacic, her dad, said it was a very long wait before they heard Alyssa had made it through the operation.
鈥淭hey [a medical staffer] said, 鈥榳e鈥檙e putting her back together,鈥� he recalled.
After the operation, Alyssa woke up a couple of times and cried in pain, but managed to get back to sleep.
She is at home now.
While the surgical team did their best to preserve Alyssa鈥檚 eye, she is still expected to need a prosthetic, Dad told the 91原创 Advance Times.
鈥淩ight now, she can鈥檛 open up her eyelid.鈥�
READ ALSO: A two-year-old 91原创 girl is battling Neurofibromatosis. Here鈥檚 how you can help.
In June, Alyssa is scheduled to return to hospital for an Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan of her other tumour.
It has been stable, but it is a 鈥渄aily worry,鈥� Dan said.
That鈥檚 because it is pressing on her her hypothalamus, the part of the brain that has a vital role in controlling many bodily functions and behaviours.
As a result, Alyssa has developed Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder, and 鈥渟ometimes gets upset鈥� her mother, Angela Lebolo Kovacic, explained.
She is usually in good spirits, but even a minor change can create 鈥減anic and fear鈥� for Alyssa, Mom described.
Since Alyssa was first diagnosed with neurofibromatosis, she has undergone chemotherapy and so many MRI scans that her mother has lost count.
Less than a year ago, after Alyssa developed pain in one eye, doctors discovered she had two rapidly growing brain tumors, one in her right optic nerve and another one on her optic nerve, behind one eye.
She was diagnosed with , a genetic disorder that causes painful tumors to develop in the nervous system, brain and spinal cord.
Alyssa underwent chemotherapy, but it couldn鈥檛 save the vision in her eye.
Friends have set up an online Gofundme campaign 鈥溾�� which has so far raised $11,644 towards a $30,000 goal.
READ ALSO: GoFundMe drive set up for young 91原创 hit-and-run victim
It will help pay for a prosthetic eye, which will need to be replaced every three to five years, and other costs that are not covered by ordinary health insurance, such as income lost because Angela had to quit working full-time to look after Alyssa.
READ ALSO: B.C. cities top the list for most generous in Canada on GoFundMe
There is no cure, the online campaign notes.
It goes on to say that Alyssa 鈥渋s a determined little girl that proves daily that she has the strength, resilience and power to overcome this barrier [but] her condition remains unpredictable.鈥�
dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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