Anna Jo Wilkinson was born on September 11, 2004.  She weighed 7lbs. 10ozs. and was 19 1/2 inches long.

There were no complications during pregnancy and she had a normal delivery.  We took Anna home from the birthing center on 9/12/04.  Two days later we went to the Pediatrician for her first well baby check-up.  During the visit the Doctor discovered a loud murmur and x-ray showed that her heart was enlarged.  She recommended that we check into the hospital so the Cardiologist could see Anna that evening.  The echocardiogram indicated that there may be an arterial venous malformation and an MRI was done the following morning which confirmed the Vein of Galen malformation.  Twenty-four hours later, we were transferred to the PICU at St. Joe's Hospital in Phoenix, AZ to receive treatment from Dr. McDougall.  While there, Anna had her first embolization at 6 days old and a total of 3 embolization surgeries which resulted in approximately 16 feeders being glued/coiled.  We spent 28 days in the hospital

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Anna is now 3 months old and is doing well.  There are still a few feeders that were not worth the risk to block off and the flow to the VOGM is minimal.  At somepoint as Anna gets older we may need to make a decision to further embolize or attempt to cure the VOGM by sealing it off.  The timing of this decision will be based on her meeting her developmental milestones and overall health.  We pray for all of the precious VOGM angels daily.

Wade, Sharon and Anna Jo Wilkinson

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