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Aveanna All-Stars: Stassi and Nurse Banely
Published Aug. 4, 2021

A note from Anastassia's mom:

Anastassia (Stassi) was born at 23 weeks’ gestation, weighing 1 pound 4 ounces. At 2 months old, she contracted GBS meningitis. She spent 284 days in the NICU and has had a total of 23 surgeries to date.

Fast forward to today and with the help of her team, including her dedicated Aveanna nurse Banely, Stassi is defying all odds. Her diagnoses don’t define her. She is a hard worker, averaging about 8 hours of therapy per week. We have been fortunate enough to be able to travel for intensive therapies 5 times since her release from the NICU. Despite all the challenges Stassi has had in her early life, she is now walking with her SMO’s, babbling, and learning how to feed herself.

One of the major challenges that we face is her specialized diet, the ketogenic diet to control her epilepsy. This diet requires a lot of dedication and love, to which Banely contributes significantly. Stassi is on a strict schedule that includes several therapies a day, cognitive play, feeding time, visual therapy – this couldn’t be done without the help of her Aveanna nurse.

We are extremely blessed to have Nurse Banely as part of our amazing team. She has become a part of our family and the bond that she shares with our daughter is heartwarming. We are fortunate to be able to share Stassi‘s growth and progress with her.