Trufa’s story started on January 13th of 2022. A few months prior we accidentally found she had hydrocephalus, but was completely asymptomatic until then…
That night at 4 am Trufa woke us up, drooling. She looked at us as if something was really wrong… We rushed to SASH emergency department, not knowing what was happening. At first, while waiting, it was unclear, but within a few hours, she stopped walking, unable to keep her balance… Neck hyperextended, so much it looked like she was going to break!
It became obvious it was something neurological, but when they checked, it was too advanced, she had so much pressure in her brain they could not operate on her, and we had to wait until she was stable…
We left her in intensive care for 24h, and we were called to come in and say goodbye to her, because it looked REALLY bad for little Trufa…
At 8am on the 14th we received a call from Stacey, the neurologist. Trufa was as stable as she was going to be, it was only going to get worse, so we had to make a decision. Putting a ventriculoperitoneal shunt or put her to sleep. If the shunt was successful, the chances of Trufa having a normal life were high, and we trusted the SASH team, so we went for it.
Trufa’s surgery was, indeed, successful. And 2 months later we were able to travel to our home country, Spain, with her in the cabin of the plane. Later on, on another turn of events, her brain collapsed inside her skull, but was something that didn’t stop her, because she recovered perfectly fine with steroids. She’s amazing and loves life so much, she’s unstoppable.
She has been able to meet all her extended Spanish family, traveled a lot, played a lot, and is incredibly happy.
Every year we celebrate two birthdays for Trufa, her real birthday, and the 14th of January, the day of her surgery (So far she’s enjoyed 2 extra years in this world). And of course we send some pics to Stacey and the team so they can see how Trufa is doing.
We are so grateful they saved her life, and now she can enjoy life for many years more.
