Arianna needs surgery

MONAHANS The souvenirs are all over 3-year-old Arriana Juarez's house.

From postcards of the Empire State Building to pictures of Arriana with musical artists Chris Brown and Big Mike, her family has a number of memories of their five trips to New York.

Arriana's mother even got a tattoo of a Yankees-style interlocking "NY" on her calf to commemorate the visits.

"I love New York," Regina Bustos said.

But it'll be a while before the family gets the one memento it wants to bring home most of all - Arriana without a large venous birthmark on her face.

While a surgery in May in New York removed a piece of the tumor and helped even out Arriana's lip, it ended up requiring a blood transfusion, Bustos said.

"That's when they figured out it was the worst case they've ever seen," Bustos said of Milton Waner and Alejandro Berenstein, two of Arriana's doctors at Roosevelt Hospital.

So the family will return to New York Aug. 18 for one of a series of sclerotherapies designed to reduce the size of the veins in Arriana's tumor, one of which her father said is the size of three fingers put together. The procedures are needed to reduce bleeding during surgery.

"She'll go in for sclerotherapy every six weeks until it's shrunk," Robert Juarez said. "Then they start cutting."

In total, Juarez expects Arriana to have to go to New York "at least" six or seven more times. He doesn't expect the procedures to be over for at least a year.

The most recent surgery was delayed when Arriana's family had trouble paying for the procedure. The hospital wanted $53,000 up front, when the family only had $30,000. But payment arrangements were worked out.

Later, an anonymous donor gave the family $20,000. Juarez said the family now has around $41,000 in an account at West Texas State Bank.

"Words cannot express how thankful we are," Bustos said. "It's great to know people out there care."

And doctors say Arriana's prognosis is good.

"He said she can handle it," Juarez said.

For now, life goes on for the family. It's planning a trip to San Antonio, where it will visit Sea World and Fiesta Texas.

Like many kids, she has an obsession with Hannah Montana, her mom said. And she's already getting her toenails done.

"She's 3, and she's acting like she's 10," Bustos said.

And she's used to getting her way.

"Are we done here?" she asks her mother when the interview starts dragging on.

Yep. We're done.

HOW TO HELP

>> A trust fund has been set up at West Texas State Bank to help with Arriana Juarez's medical bills. The account number is 8601333. For information on donating, call 943-7561.