Story
Name
Maysen Gonzales
Injury/Illness
Premature Birth
Maysen Lou was born at 24 weeks gestation, since then she has undergone 3 procedures. At day 5 of life, Maysen had to have surgery to place a stoma due to her being septic and having an intestinal infection/ tear in her small intestine. She has grown from Bay 1, and 2, and now is in L6 at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. She has had her ostomy take down, as well as hernia repair. Maysen has a long road ahead, and having been in the NICU for 20 weeks already we are anxious to get her home, but also understand taking time for her to progress on her own is crucial. With being 85 mile away, we travel back and forth every other day and stay through the weekends in Iowa city. My husband and I are working full time on top of taking care of our 1 year old at home. Maysen is such a fighter and continues to growith slower progression of her eyes, her hospital stay will be lengthened by at least 3 more weeks so we are told.