For over 20 years, the Mueller family, who own and operate the Dairy Queen in Shawnessy, have loved raising funds for the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation. Each year they participate in DQ Miracle Treat Day, when net proceeds from Blizzard® Treats are donated to support the 100,000 kids who rely on the hospital each year. They never expected though that one day, their own daughter would be one of those kids.
In May 2023, 17-year-old Chloe started having a bad sinus infection and headache. Her family doctor suggested it was a migraine or stress. Pain killers helped for a bit but when it came back a month later, accompanied by a high fever and loss of feeling in her right leg, she was taken by ambulance to Emergency at the Alberta Children’s Hospital.
An MRI discovered Chloe had bacterial meningitis – she had blood clots and pockets of fluid all over her brain that was taking away her ability to walk and she needed an emergency neurosurgery. Dr. Walter Hader performed a craniotomy, removing part of her skull to drain the infectious fluid in the back of her brain and she began five different IV antibiotics to fight the infection. She remained in hospital 12 days as she recovered and worked to regain mobility on her right side, spending Miracle Treat Day not behind the drive through window, but rather in hospital. She was able to go home on IV antibiotics to fight off the rest of the infection, and once her appetite was back, the first place she went to was Dairy Queen of course.
However, when the antibiotics weren’t doing the trick, she returned to the hospital for a second MRI. The scan revealed the infection had grown. She was admitted for another craniotomy, this time at the front of her brain by Dr. Jay Riva-Cambrin. That was end of June and by mid August, she was totally recovered.
Today, Chloe is in Grade 12 and has returned to working at her parents’ Dairy Queen, and her school’s snowboarding team and theatre program. She and her parents are so grateful for the world-renowned neurosurgery team who were there for her when she unexpectedly needed them. As longtime supporters, the hospital, and the generous community who support it, mean so much more to them now.
