Nikita Heuvelman from Zuidwolde has to fight hard to regain her strength after her first operation in America. A week and a half ago, she was successfully operated on her unstable cervical vertebrae.
The 20-year-old woman from Zuidwolde has been struggling with the consequences of this for six years. As a result, in recent years she had been in bed in a dark room all day because she could no longer tolerate light or touch.
“It is so much, how hard it is and Nikita still has a long way to go,” responds mother Brenda Huisjes from Maryland, America.
Crowdfunding raised the necessary EUR 180,000 to pay for the operation, transport to and stay in America. The operation is not reimbursed by the insurance in the Netherlands because knowledge about the condition is lacking here. Dr. Henderson of Maryland is one of the few neurosurgeons worldwide who specializes in Nikita’s condition.
During the operation, he secured her skull with a plate, screws and donor bone up to her second cervical vertebra. The vertebrae that were pressing on her nerves in her spinal cord were also secured.
“Nikita is extremely weakened and has many deficiencies. She cannot eat herself because her stomach and intestinal system cannot tolerate it. That is why she gets her nutrition through an IV. And despite blood transfusions, she also has anemia and is dehydrated. Infusions also include antibiotics and pain medication. As a result, she sleeps almost all day. The doctor says that she is now trying to make up for the lack of sleep of recent years,” Huisjes says.
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