8-Year-Old Survives Perilous Brain Operation
CHICAGO (CBS) -- She woke up one morning seemingly a healthy little girl. But by late afternoon she was in intensive care.
CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman has her survival story.
That story has a lot to do with the doctors at Loyola University Health System. By the time Abby Avitia came to them, the 8-year-old had already suffered a kind of stroke. The medical team's work on her rare condition -- and Avitia's determination to get through it -- mean she's alive to tell her story.
"It wasn't fun," Avitia says. "I had a hemorrhage in my brain."
She had a tangle of hundreds of fragile vessels called an AVM. Those were causing bleeding on the brain. Her condition was something you rarely see in children.
It seemed to come out of the blue.
"She ate and was totally normal in the morning," Abby's mom, Jessica Avitia, says. "And then, by five o'clock we were in intensive care."
Dr. Thomas Origitano says the situation was grave.
"They told me if they didn't do the surgery and take what was wrong out with my brain that I would have died," Abby says.
She asked Dr. Origitano to spare her hair. He did. Then came the tough stuff. He went from the surface to deep inside her brain, working on one blood vessel at a time. Thirteen hours later, Avitia came through the surgery.
"She said, 'This is worth two chocolate ice creams,'" Dr. Origitano recalls.
"When I first woke up, I felt a little pain," Abby says. "Then, it went away, and I was perfect."
So perfect she wrote the doctor a note. It said: "Thank you for fixing my head."
"Those are the kinds of things you frame in your heart," Origitano says. "I think she's meant for great things."
The doctor says patients like Abby teach him about courage, resilience and hope.
Abby is not even two months removed from the surgery, and she's back in school. She says she's doing great.
