Marlee is a 12-year-old girl and a flyer on her middle school cheer team. She is incredibly athletic, funny and intelligent. Her sense of humor is contagious and she has a smile that can light up the room. Right now, though, Marlee is a very sick little girl. After a three-hour practice on Saturday, August 19th, Marlee came home and collapsed in her room. She was rushed to the emergency room and was given a CT scan. The scan turned up normal and she was subsequently sent home only to return to Riley Children's Hospital emergency room the next morning. At first, doctors thought that Marlee simply had a migraine and she was treated for such and sent home. However, Marlee got worse instead of better and returned to the emergency room once again. Marlee was finally diagnosed as having Trigeminal Neuralgia, a condition that is extremely rare in children. Basically, her trigeminal nerve is irritated and sending out violent pain throughout her left temple, ear and jaw. Since being diagnosed, Marlee has returned to the emergency room nine more times due to the high level of pain that she is experiencing and has missed four weeks of school. She went from being a super happy, incredibly athletic kid to a child who is in constant pain and cannot have anything, including a breeze, touch the left side of her face. Marlee is now a homebound student and has a teacher who visits her house once a week to keep her caught up on what she is missing. She has become increasingly depressed and we would like to show Marlee that she is not alone in this. That we, as prayer warriers, family and friends, are standing by her side, supporting her all the way. The next step for Marlee is to go see a neurosurgeon in order to find out what kind of treatment options he recommends. Already, Marlee has seen her neurologist twice to try and find medications that can help her. Her family is doing all that they can to support her and take care of her, but they are already becoming increasingly overwhelmed with the amount of medical bills that are starting to pour in. They never know when the time will come that Marlee's pain becomes to great and they have to rush back to the emergency room, and they are unsure whether or not she will have to have surgery. We are asking for your support and help through this incredibly difficult time to show your love and support for Marlee and her family. We need to raise this girl up in prayer and let her know that the community is standing behind her 100%. Thanks so much!
*Update*
Marlee's neurosurgeon has found a blood vessel that is pushing on her trigeminal nerve. Marlee is going to have surgery to try and relieve the pressure of the blood vessel off of her nerve and we are hoping that this will take care of all of the pain that she has been in. Her surgery will take place October 25th and then Marlee will be in ICU for 24-48 hours before being moved to a regular room. She will remain in the hospital until the doctor determines that it is safe for her to go home to complete her recovery. While the surgery is intensive, we are hopeful that this is the answer we have been searching for.