Community asked to help parents of stricken child

Date: 9/15/2010

Sept. 15, 2010

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

CHICOPEE -- A Chicopee family is hoping the community will help them cope with the expenses from a mysterious and devastating illness suffered by a child.

Jordan Franz is described in a letter by her grandparents, Betsy and Del Barabani, as a happy eight-year-old who on Aug. 2, was looking forward to a family vacation in Ohio when she started suffering from seizures.

Doctors still do not know what is causing this life threatening condition.

A fundraising dinner will be hosted by the Chicopee Moose Family Center on Sept. 24 from 6 p.m. through midnight. There will be entertainment provided by the band, Rock Star, and tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children.

Tickets can be purchased by calling Alice Beaulieu at 533-7366 or Julie Reid at 534-4328. They will also be available at the door the night of the event.

Del Barabani told Reminder Publications the fundraising effort was organized by the coaches of the soccer program at the Moose Family Center -- a program of which his granddaughter was a part.

Barabani called their efforts "outstanding."

The fundraiser is to help the family with the expenses of travel, meals, hotels and loss of wages through the ordeal.

"Although the Chicopee Police and Paramedics acted quickly in getting her to Baystate Medical Center Emergency, the doctors could not stop her seizure activity and she developed a high fever of over 104 degrees. It was decided between the Pediatric intensive care unit doctors and the neurologist that the best treatment for Jordan was to put her into a medically induced coma and literally shut her brain down. At this point, we had no idea what Jordan's outcome would be and were just praying she would live. We also did not know what caused this sudden illness in our granddaughter," the Barabanis wrote in their letter.

"During this time, Jordan also developed pneumonia, pancreatitis and a urinary tract infection. When the doctors decided it was time to have Jordan 'come out of this coma' nobody knew what the outcome would be. We were hopeful Jordan would be 'okay' because an MRI had shown no brain damage, but everyone knew that she would need some type of rehabilitation. Jordan's journey out of the coma was long and hard, but she fought her way out. "Once Jordan was off life support, she was moved to the regular pediatrics unit, where she stayed for a week. During this week she underwent surgery for a G-tube placement into her stomach so she could continue onto the next phase of her recovery," they continued.

She was then transferred to Boston Children's Hospital for further treatment and evaluation. She was then moved to a rehab hospital in New Britain, Conn.

Barabani said his granddaughter is due to be released soon, but will have to return daily for physical therapy. Although she can walk, she still has trouble with doing it, he explained.

There are some cognitive effects to the illness, as well, he added. Doctors have yet to determine exactly what caused the illness, except they believe it was a virus.

They believe she will eventually recover fully, he added.