Anna & her baby "198"

Anna Seifert

First post: Feb 11, 2020 Latest post: Dec 20, 2023
We LOVE our Anna, and we know you do too, or you wouldn't be here!  If you know Anna, you know she is a FIGHTER!  We will keep you updated on her prognoses and current state to the best of our ability.  Thanks for your PRAYERS and interest in wanting to know how she is doing.  May God be with us all. 

Around Thanksgiving break, Anna started to get headaches. She also started to experience double vision and random vomiting. At first we thought she had the flu, or maybe it was her heart. Then the balance issues showed up, and the headaches got worse and worse and the vomiting started to happen more often even though she wasn't nauseous. I finally took her to see the nurse practitioner at our general practitioner's office. She referred us to a neurologist, who took a look in Anna's eyes and said her optic nerve was very compressed due to increased intracranial pressure. He ordered an MRI, but due to some crossed wires or miscommunication the MRI was never completed. Finally the neurologist told us to just go to the ER and ask for a CT scan and spinal tap (lumbar puncture) to relieve the pressure since the spinal cord and brain are connected. On the morning of Thursday, February 6th I took Anna to St. Nicholas Hospital ER. They ordered the CT scan and saw an abnormality. The ER doctor sent the images down to neurology at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee. The neurologist said put that girl in an ambulance and get her down here ASAP.  Anna was transported immediately to the Neuro Intensive Care Unit (NICU), where they assessed her further. They ordered an MRI and more tests, where the abnormality was discovered to be a tumor that was blocking the 4th ventricle in her brain. Ventricles produce the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) that cushions the brain and spinal cord. The 4th ventricle drains the CSF from the brain, but since hers was blocked by the tumor, it could not drain properly which led to the increased intracranial pressure and caused the headaches, vision issues and vomiting. The doctors were amazed at how well she looked even with a 1.5" x 1.5" mass in her brain! They placed an external drain through her skull to provide immediate relief of the pressure. This is where she got the funky haircut in the front. Surgery was schedule for Monday. February 10th to remove as much of the tumor as possible. And that catches you up to where the first update picks up... 

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