Struggling for survival

ANNABELLE SIKES NEWS EDITOR

When 16-year-old Valeria Arraiz Ramos came home from school Wednesday, Jan. 4, her family knew there was something wrong.

Valeria was behaving differently, moving slowly and barely speaking. That night, she barely slept or ate.

The West Orange High School junior has now been at the AdventHealth for Children hospital for almost three weeks. Although she’s gone from critical condition to stable, her recovery process is slow and financially challenging for the family of five who came from Venezuela.

Valeria’s father, Carlos, said the family is at a loss for what to do.

“We are upset and frustrated, because we never thought we would be in a situation like this,” he said. “We are crying, nervous and desperate.”

Warning Signs

Valeria didn’t go to school Thursday, Jan. 5; she wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t talk. She wasn’t even responding to single commands, so her parents took her to the emergency room.

There, doctors ran tests on Valeria’s blood and her urine, ran a meningitis encephalitis panel, and a computed tomography scan; and did an X-ray of her chest. The results all came back negative, and the only abnormality was the detection of a urinary tract infection.

Valeria was released from the hospital and went home that night, but her mental status didn’t improve.

The following day, Friday, Jan. 6, Valeria couldn’t recognize her family or even talk. She was rushed to the children’s hospital, where she remains.

Valeria doesn’t respond, talk or eat. She has a feeding tube. Doctors are still looking for answers and are running a battery of tests to figure out why Valeria is having these symptoms.

Although she is now stable and can walk, her recovery process is slow.

She is completing physical and speech therapy every day. She can

Help The Family

n GoFundMe: bit.ly/3DbUNhZ n Amazon Wishlist for gift card donations and food items: bit. ly/3iUQSzj. Choose the “West Orange HS Food Pantry C/O Margaret Beadle’s Gift Registry Address” for shipment directly to WO. n Alternatives: Gift cards to Publix, Target, Walmart or gas stations (to assist the family with travel to and from downtown Orlando) can be purchased and dropped off to the front office at the school to the attention of Mrs. Beadle. Food items such as pasta, sauce, bread, cereal, etc. can be delivered to the school front desk as well.