Doctor after doctor, nobody could tell parents Krysta and Justin what exactly was going on with their three-year-old, Paisley—since she was born, she’d had all kinds of symptoms that no one had an answer for. It began as gastrointestinal and urinary problems, and even trouble walking and speaking, but quickly grew into headaches so painful it would make her faint.
“Medicine didn't help, darkness didn't help, and it never got better—it kept getting worse. There’s no worse feeling than being a mother and not being able to help your child.”
After a particularly scary fainting episode, Krysta and Justin rushed her to AdventHealth Orlando. With one MRI, they finally found the answer they’d been desperately searching for: Paisley had Chiari Malformation Type I. “The doctors came in and said, ‘We know what’s wrong. We have a diagnosis. She has Chiari Malformation, and it explains everything.’ And in that moment, I felt like weight came off of our shoulders—but then so much uncertainty.”
Chiari malformations are caused by the lack of space for the brain in the back of the skull and affect the part of the brain that is vital for motor coordination and essential bodily functions. It explained all of Paisley’s symptoms—from her gastrointestinal issues to why she was nonverbal at the age of 3. But the traditional surgery to treat Chiari Malformations involved fusing her spine—a risky surgery that both parents were unsure about.
Then, Paisley’s neurosurgeon brought in Dr. Lopez, who wanted to try something different: employ a surgery typically used for another condition but had never been used for Chiari malformations. There was no guarantee it would work, but it had fewer risks than the traditional surgery. Paisley became the first patient to undergo this procedure.
The surgery took over 6 hours; Justin and Krysta waited, thinking about their hopes for their baby girl. The morning after the surgery, Paisley—who had never spoken a full sentence before—was no longer nonverbal. She talked excitedly: describing things, telling them how she felt, what she liked, all about animals, dinosaurs—anything and everything. She was thriving. She’d been absorbing the world around her for three years, unable to express herself; she was finally able to do that. She found her voice.
“Paisley's future is limitless at this point,” Krysta shares on now 5-year-old Paisley. “She wants to be a doctor. She's not going to be somebody who sits back and waits for her life to happen—she’s going to make it happen, and I think that shines in her personality more than anything else, now that she’s finally able to express herself.”