Bria

This is Bria. For the longest time we had no idea what caused Bria's 'episodes', the first of which occured at the age of 4 months. We had spent the subsequent months/years battling back from that. Bria experienced low blood sugar, high CPK and lactate levels, high Ketone levels, brain damage, enlarged kidneys, prolonged QT, Hypothyroidism, uncontrolled seizures, suffered 2 comas, 15 total days on life support, has had feeding tubes, mounds of medications and lots of long hospital stays in her very short 4 years. Bria has overcome so much. She still takes thyroid medication, a mito cocktail of supplements and patches one eye every day for strengthening. Bria has cognitive delays. She babbles and has some words but has significant speech delays. Bria walks, but struggles with balance issues and gait abnormalities. Those are the medical pieces of Bria which seem hard to believe when you meet her. Bria as an individual is much more. She is funny and makes herself and others laugh frequently. She is full of life and has a beautiful way about her, both inside and out. She loves her pets (cat Singe and dog Koda) and her family, especially her brother Braxton and is extremely engaged when meeting new people. She studies those around her and works very hard to overcome her challenges daily. Bria takes therapeutic horse riding lessons and it has helped her to walk and build her confidence. Bria displays an everlasting luster to pursue happiness daily. It is this that motivates us to help her in her journey by participating in this research.