OUR LUCA HAS INSPIRED US TO MAKE A CHANGE!

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He's my warrior, my trooper, my inspiration.  Luca has beaten the odds of shunt replacement for 11 years now, however, not a day goes by that we don't thank God for this blessing.  At 33 weeks of pregnancy, Luca decided he wanted to enter the world early.  There was no stopping our boy!  Never could we have imagined how much he had to fight for his life for the next two months.   Luca acquired meningitis during his first week in the hospital which then formed a hematoma in his brain. This created a blockage in his body to normally absorb his cerebral fluid that our brain makes: his ventricles began to swell daily.  Leaving no option, Luca had to have emergency brain surgery, this surgery was called an ETV.  Unfortunately, this was not his last brain surgery because his brain did not take well to the surgery, so two months later he had to have his second brain surgery.  This was to place VP shunt into his tiny little brain to drain his brain fluid into the perineal of his stomach.   By the hands of God, he is still living with the same shunt today.     You see, most children are not so lucky, the life of a shunt usually last about 7 years and 95% of first shunts fail so you can truly understand why my boy is my inspiration!   Raising awareness and money for research is the only way we can pay if forward!