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Meet Isabella “Bella” Needham Little Rock, Arkansas
Bella was born October 5, 2004, at a Little Rock hospital. Ten days after her birth, Margaret and her husband, Michael, began noticing Bella had what seemed like an ongoing case of the hiccups. They took Bella to the hospital where she was born, but medical staff members assured them Bella was fine. Unsatisfied, Margaret brought her daughter to the ACH emergency room. Immediately, nurses and doctors knew something was seriously wrong. Bella was suffering from seizures, almost continuously. She was rushed to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), where she was stabilized and diagnosed with bacterial meningitis e.coli, which is an infection of the brain. Medical staff members were not able to determine where Bella had contracted the bacteria. For the next two days, doctors did not think Bella would make it. Margaret, however, was determined. “I kept telling myself, ‘I am taking this child home with me. She is not going to die,’” she says. Bella did make it. Doctors placed two shunts in her brain to alleviate the pressure caused by the meningitis. She spent 45 days at ACH, finally leaving the hospital just days before Christmas. Over the past few years, the Needhams have visited ACH regularly for clinic visits and shunt revisions. Bella still has seizures, and occasionally, the seizures warrant a trip to the emergency room. Because of the meningitis, she also has a mild case of cerebral palsy. Margaret and Michael are very happy with the care Bella has received, especially while in the PICU. “There was a nurse in the PICU who really went above and beyond for Bella,” she says. “She was so compassionate and really made us feel at home at the hospital. Everyone we encountered made us feel that way.” Bella is currently in preschool, where she receives physical, speech and occupational therapies. According to her mom, she is a sweet, giving girl who loves to read and listen to music. 
Arkansas Children's Hospital, 1 Children’s Way, Little Rock, AR 72202-3591, (501) 364-1100 or TDD (501) 364-1184
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Margaret, Bella’s mom, knew something was wrong with her daughter. Call it mother’s intuition, a hunch or just a feeling, but Margaret knew her daughter needed help immediately. And she knew just the place to take her – Arkansas Children’s Hospital. 