The target amount of 255,000 euros set at the end of October to pay for the costs of major operations for Nikita Heuvelman from Zuidwolde is nowhere near sufficient. It is estimated that a total amount of 375,000 euros is necessary to help Nikita medically in the United States.
At the start of all actions to get the Zuidwoldigse to neurosurgeon Dr Henderson in Pikesville in the US at all, it was calculated that 180,000 euros was sufficient. Actions have so far yielded an amount of 244,000 euros. “The money is gone, we are at our wits’ end. We have to pay the second hospital bill soon”, mother Brenda lets out a cry for help.
The increase is due to the extra operations that have to be performed, the extra examinations, extra infusions and an unfavorable exchange rate between the dollar and the euro. In addition, Nikita and her family have been in the US for much longer than expected.
A lot of pain
At the end of October, Nikita underwent surgery for the second time, which was a Tered Cord operation. There was hope that things would go much better after that, but according to her mother Brenda, Nikita is having a hard time. “She still has a lot of pain, pressure in her head, feels sick and is nauseous every day, and a finger, shoulder or rib regularly pops out of the socket. There was a lot wrong with her body and she had three operations within a month. According to the doctor, we should therefore not expect that she will feel better,” Brenda said from America. She stays with Nikita in a rented cottage. Meanwhile, father Jan and brother Randy have returned to the Netherlands, which does not make it any easier for Brenda and Nikita.
Wearing a neck brace 24 hours a day, seven days a week also applies: pain in the temporomandibular joint, in her ears, on the side of the head, swallowing problems and pain in the shoulders. “The brace has to come off more, but Nikita is afraid to do this, her muscles have weakened severely from wearing the brace and the muscle spasms, so it doesn’t feel firm to her and is very painful. We can of course see that her head is now really firmly above her body when the brace is finished.”
Fluid retention
A stent still needs to be placed in a strangulated artery in her pelvis, a result of May Thurner syndrome. This third operation will allow the blood flow in her gastrointestinal system to function better again. Nikita still has to go to the cardiologist and the ophthalmologist for an examination and there is still talk of placing a drain in her spinal cord if it is not possible to remove the fluid accumulation in her head with medication. That would mean a fourth operation.
The board of the ‘Nikita wants to live again’ foundation also continues to make efforts to collect the necessary euros, and very varied lots are still auctioned via Facebook.
More info: www.nikitawilweerleven.nl . You can donate via this site or directly to account number: NL52 RABO 0190 1715 96