Prayers, community support bolster Norwin girl in her health battles

When Mia Gill of North Huntingdon had surgical procedure in mid-August to take away a benign mind tumor, there was hope that it might finish months of debilitating well being issues. However she has been left with migraines, tremors, dizziness and lightweight sensitivity issues that baffled docs trying to find a remedy.

All of the whereas, Gill, the 18-year-old daughter of Kevin and Trina Gill, has acquired an outpouring of assist from household, buddies, their church and the group. Mia, a 2021 Norwin graduate, needed to defer attending Grove Metropolis School, and taking part in lacrosse, till subsequent faculty 12 months.

“Folks have been fantastic,” mentioned Trina Gill. “We’d not have been in a position to make it with out everybody’s prayers.”

Mia’s Miracle Fb Weblog was created by Angela Mazur, a Norwin Excessive College English instructor and Trina’s sister-in-law, with the purpose of amassing as many prayer warriors as attainable.

“We’d not be functioning in the present day if it weren’t for the prayers and acts of selflessness from everybody,” Trina Gill mentioned.

Msgr. Paul V. Paul Fitzmaurice and St. Agnes Roman Catholic Parish in North Huntingdon held a group prayer vigil and have been main rosaries and different group prayer classes on behalf of Mia.

The Rev. John Moineau, priest at Immaculate Conception Parish in Irwin, is combating his personal most cancers prognosis. He devoted his chemotherapy classes and morning plenty to Mia, Gill mentioned.

Mates and strangers have cooked meals to allow the mother and father to spend extra time with Mia, her 4 siblings — Lauren, 20; Kyle, 17; Evan, 15; and Claire, 12. Some even volunteered to remain in a single day on the hospital with Mia to permit her mother and father time to relaxation at dwelling, Gill mentioned.

The Norwin Lacrosse Membership, of which Trina had been president and Mia performed, supplied native restaurant present playing cards.

An area household pal took of their youngest youngster to make sure she had a steady and low-stress first week of faculty, Gill mentioned. Mia’s three greatest buddies have frolicked with Mia together with numerous hours in prayer and rallying their school campuses to wish.

One other pal created “Mia’s Miracle” bracelets, which quickly will probably be distributed to native companies and faculties, Gill mentioned.

The household additionally will profit from the Norwin Excessive College ladies volleyball crew Pink Out fundraiser recreation towards Hempfield Space, scheduled for Thursday at Norwin Excessive College. The junior varsity recreation begins at 6 p.m. Varsity performs at 7 p.m.

Mia mentioned she additionally has acquired an amazing quantity of assist from the Grove Metropolis ladies’s lacrosse coach and her future teammates. They’ve been holding prayer vigils, and the faculty’s employees and different sports activities groups have been sending playing cards.

Their group of Lincoln Hills designed yard indicators with the assistance of Mia’s former highschool lacrosse coach, Mandy Pane, Gill mentioned. The indicators, asking for prayers, could be seen throughout Mia’s neighborhood and past.

“The assist from everybody has actually helped me to stay constructive and trustworthy,” mentioned Mia, who will donate proceeds from the bracelets and yard indicators to her native youth ministry group and the nonprofit “Hitting For Hope,” began by one in every of her greatest buddies, Ryan Scavnicky.

Indicators of well being issues

Wanting again, the Gills now acknowledge the tell-tale indicators that one thing was mistaken with Mia within the spring.

Throughout her senior lacrosse season, Mia was off stability, handled accidents and was falling on the sphere. She mentioned her imaginative and prescient was blurry, she had a variety of complications and couldn’t sleep. The signs had been rationalized as being the results of on-line faculty, taking a look at her pc display screen, being clumsy and senior 12 months stress.

Just a few days after commencement on Could 28, Mia’s conduct started to dramatically change. She had been working on the State Farm insurance coverage workplace in Irwin and was taking on-line summer time lessons via Grove Metropolis School when she started to black out and wasn’t ready to focus on her assignments.

“I used to be a straight-A, honors pupil. I knew one thing was actually mistaken,” Mia mentioned.

A collection of medical checks and examinations didn’t uncover the supply of her well being issues. Physicians had been baffled.

“Everybody pointed to my insomnia because the trigger,” Mia mentioned. “I couldn’t sleep for months.”

At Mia’s insistence, docs lastly ordered a CT scan in early August. It revealed a big tumor — a uncommon choroid plexus papilloma — filling a piece of the rear of the mind.

The Nationwide Institutes of Well being says that ventricles in that space of the mind produce fluid surrounding the mind and spinal twine. Fewer than 200 folks yearly are recognized with that tumor, with the bulk being younger youngsters, Gill mentioned. Based mostly on the calcification of the cells, the uncommon tumor had been rising for a couple of years, Mia mentioned.

“Mia’s case could be very distinctive,” mentioned Gill, who has performed in depth analysis on the sickness to hunt docs, hospitals and specialists across the nation.

Docs had been hopeful Mia would get well rapidly from her Aug. 18 surgical procedure due to her well being and youth. As a substitute, she started to spiral additional downward after returning dwelling. She started affected by neurological signs that put her again within the hospital. She continues to wrestle with every day complications and migraines, dizziness, tremors, coronary heart fee dysfunction, confusion, insomnia, tingling in her limbs, gentle sensitivity and eye motion.

Even the easy job of writing a letter or taking a look at her telephone is sort of unimaginable.

“The speculation is that eradicating the tumor set one thing off within the mind,” Gill mentioned.

To get some train, Gill mentioned they fight strolling round Indian Lake Park in North Huntingdon, however that’s typically a wrestle, significantly whether it is sunny, which bothers Mia’s eyes.

Mia and her mother and father went to Cleveland Clinic final week for an appointment with an autoimmune neurologist. Mia has been accepted as a affected person at Youngsters’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the place she will probably be examined by the chief of neurology in November. She is also awaiting appointments at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., Gill mentioned.

Mia is anticipated to bear extra checks for attainable neurological autoimmune points, however they have to wait till the remedies of intravenous immunoglobulin — antibodies taken from blood donations — not affect her system, her mom mentioned.

Sturdy religion in God

By means of all of the struggles, Mia stays steadfast in her religion. She might research theology or biology at Grove Metropolis.

“I’ve witnessed and felt the miracles which have resulted from the ability of prayer,” Mia mentioned.

Her favourite Bible verse is a part of 2 Corinthians 12:9. “My grace is enough for you, for energy is made excellent in weak spot,” Mia recited, saying it glorifies God in your weak spot.

“Even when you’re struggling, there’s something to rejoice about,” she mentioned.

Those that need to comply with Mia’s prayer warriors and comply with her restoration can go to the Fb weblog @MiasMiracleNetwork.