CUMBERLAND – At six weeks old, Zola Brown has fought off a potentially deadly infection and is one of the first children to receive in-utero surgery to repair issues caused by spina bifida.
Zola’s mother, Brittany Brown, said she is happy that things are looking positive now, and says she and her husband, Deaven Brown, were deeply concerned about their infant daughter’s bacterial meningitis diagnosis.
“She’s on the right path and doing better. She’s a little miracle,” Brittany said.
Now, friends of the family have created a GoFundMe page to help raise money to help the Browns while Zola remains in the hospital.
Brittany said she has been out of work since she was 22 weeks pregnant after discovering Zola had spina bifida. Soon after, doctors performed in-utero surgery on Brittany and Zola to repair exposed portions of Zola’s spine.
Born June 6 at 36 weeks, Zola was delivered “a perfect baby,” spending a few days in the newborn intensive care unit. The spina bifida surgery was successful and increased Zola’s chances to live a life with full mobility.
A few weeks later, Brittany returned to the hospital with Zola, who had a persistent fever. The fever revealed a bacterial meningitis infection in Zola’s brain, which required her to be intubated. Later, Zola underwent brain surgery to reduce swelling, which was successful as well.
It was touch and go for a while, said Brittany’s friend, Kellie McGarry. She said Zola remained in the prayers of many in Cumberland, and after two weeks on a ventilator, Zola was able to breathe on her own.
“She’s on her road to recovery and doing well now,” McGarry said.
McGarry said she set up the fundraiser in hopes to give the Browns a needed break.
Deaven is working two jobs to keep the family afloat, Brittany said, and both parents feel like they need a break from trying to balance paying for medical expenses and being able to take time to spend with their daughters. With Brittany spending much of her time in the hospital and Deaven working, Brittany said their elder daughter, Elianna, is also missing time with her parents.
“She says she misses her and us, it made us all emotional,” Brittany said.
She said doctors informed her that the meningitis diagnosis was not connected to the spina bifida and surgery.
“I’m doing better now. She’s doing a little better now. I’m feeling a little relief now. I’m doing pretty good, I’ve been here with her the whole time,” she said.
Brittany said doctors anticipate Zola to stay in the hospital another month until bacteria tests come back negative, though they can’t give a definite length of time she’ll stay. Her mom said she can spend more time at home with Elianna now that Zola is improving.
“It’s been really hard for us, for my husband,” Brittany said.
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