Team Select Patient Spotlight

Meet Tia! Tia is a joyful two-and-a-half-year-old who lives with a severe form of epilepsy called Malignant migrating partial seizures of infancy (MMPSI) and has been a patient with Team Select Home Care for six months. 

Team Select Home Care Family

Tia and her family reside in Phoenix, Arizona, and are part of the Family Licensed Health Aide (LHA) Program. Through the Family LHA Program, Tia’s mom, Toi, provides full-time care for Tia as her licensed caregiver. 

At two months old, Tia began having extremely frequent and severe seizures, leading her and her family to spend countless nights in the hospital searching for an answer. Not long after she was diagnosed with MMPSI.

“In MMPSI, specifically, partial seizures generally begin shortly after birth and are often not responsive to treatment. Although the seizures may occur relatively infrequently in the beginning, within a few months the frequency increases drastically with some affected people experiencing clusters of 5 to 30 seizures several times per day. Signs and symptoms associated with these episodes vary based on which part of the brain is affected during a given seizure. Although the underlying cause of MMPSI is not fully understood, de novo genetic changes in certain genes have been identified in several affected people and are thought to be involved in the development of the condition. Even when a genetic cause is identified, most cases of MMPSI occur sporadically in people with no family history of the condition.” – National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences

Tia’s day-to-day consists of quality care and time with momma, various therapy sessions, and taking seven medications twice daily. These medications help lessen Tia’s seizures and sometimes, allow Tia to be seizure-free. 

She loves to sing and dance with her family, play on her tablet, go to the park, and she loves to swim! Tia really enjoys just doing anything outdoors and has the personality of a pre-teen, as Toi likes to joke.

Team Select Home Care Family

“For almost being three years old, Tia has had three surgeries and probably over a thousand seizures,” says Toi. “She is the strongest little warrior my wife and I know.” 

Starting with the Family LHA Program in August of 2022, Toi says this program has been absolutely life-changing for her family! 

“In full transparency, the Family LHA Program is one of the main reasons Tia is living a more fulfilling life! This program has truly been a blessing from God.” 

The Family LHA Program, nationally known as the Family CNA Program, became available to Arizona families in April 2022 and is currently available in four other states around the nation: Colorado, Indiana, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania. 

This program allows parents and legal guardians to become paid, certified caregivers for their loved ones at no cost to them or the state they reside in. This program brings a solution to medically complex families everywhere. 

We are so thankful to Toi and her family for trusting us with Tia’s care. Thank you for being part of the Team Select Family! Learn about becoming a paid, certified caregiver for your loved one and join our Team Select Family today by visiting www.tshc.com/becomeafamilycaregiver/.