Angela Zapien
Angela was born May 31st 2012 and it soon became clear that all was not well. After an emergency caesarean, the medical team had to perform CPR since because she was not breathing. At 3 days old she began seizing and was transferred to the neonatal ICU in Santa Clara. The next 2 months in the hospital were awful, my baby was rigged up to all sorts of tubes and monitors and I felt so helpless. Her seizures continued to increase she was getting up to 500 a day and doctors could not figure out was causing them so there were intrusive and exhaustive tests performed on her. At 2 months old, Angela was transferred to UCSF Children’s Hospital and was now on ten different anti-seizure medications which were not helping. There were a couple times were she stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated and she spent most of the time sleeping since her body was exhausted from all the seizures and from all the drugs that were in her system. As a result, she had surgery and was now being fed through a feeding tube. We were told that Angela would be handicapped and that she only had 2 weeks to live since the seizures were not decreasing.
The medical team gave us the option of leaving her at the hospital or taking her home. Even though I was afraid, overwhelmed, and worried I wanted to take care of her and I kept praying that her seizures would miraculously go away. I was so happy that I was going to finally take her home although I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Doctors diagnosed her with a rare genetic mutation KCN Q2, cerebral palsy, Cortical Visual impairment and acid reflux. A year after being released from the hospital her convulsions decreased, but she cried most of the time, didn’t sleep much and often vomited. Throughout her life Angela has had episodes where her seizures would increase and she is often hospitalized due to pneumonia or viral infections. She is now 6 years old and has been seizure free for about two years now. While she has not developed in the conventional sense it’s clear that she recognizes and loves us. Angela has become my teacher in so many ways. She is the happiest girl I know and enjoys the simplest things in life such as music, attending school and being surrounded by nature. My daughter is a blessing from God, I would do anything for her and I am lucky to have her in my life.
click here to watch a video of Angela…
