PLATTEVILLE, Feb. 11 — Charlye and Jeremiah Jenkins are going through one of the worst nightmares any parent can experience.

Their daughter Collins, a student at Westview Elementary School in Platteville, underwent 10½ hours of brain surgeries at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison Friday.

But based merely on social media photos, the Jenkins family is far from alone.

Throughout the week and on Friday particularly students from all four Platteville schools and employees at numerous Platteville businesses wore pink to support Collins. The UW–Platteville basketball teams posted photos wearing pink shirts also in support.

An online store with CollinsStrong shirts and hoodies has been online since Monday, with $5 from each sale donated to the Jenkins family. Spectators at Friday night’s Platteville High School boys basketball game raised money from the family.

“Collins is doing the best she can after surgery, but the recovery is hard and will take time,” said Charlye Monday morning. “Her body has been through a lot, and she is currently connected to multiple monitors, medications, and drains. Because of all of this, her movement is very limited, and she is often too uncomfortable to do much, even opening her eyes, which has been very frustrating for her. She is resting a lot, but she is also pushing herself. Yesterday, with the help of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy, she was able to get up and sit in a chair with assistance.”

Charlye describes her daughter as “a sweet, silly little girl with plenty of spunk and sass. She is very active and loves playing with her friends, cooking in the kitchen, dancing, and running around our neighborhood with all of the other kids.

“We were first alerted by her after-school care program, the UWP Children’s Center, when they noticed she was complaining of dizziness and walking differently. When we got home, we monitored her closely. Since she had just been in a bouncy house over the weekend, we initially thought she may have been injured. Besides being tired her spirits and everything else seemed normal, but after checking in with family and seeing no improvement overnight, we decided to take her to the ER at UnityPoint Dubuque to be evaluated.

“While there, they performed a CT scan, which revealed a mass, followed by an MRI. Shortly after, she was transferred by ambulance to UW American Family Children’s Hospital.”

The family spent that night in the UW emergency room waiting for a room in the hospital.

Once in the hospital Collins had multiple MRI scans, a CT scan and blood draws. Collins’ braces, which had just been put in, had to be removed so doctors could get clearer MRI images, Charlye said.

“Collins’ first surgery was an Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy to treat hydrocephalus (“water on the brain”),” said Charlye. “This procedure was necessary because cerebrospinal fluid had built up in her brain due to the location of the mass near the brainstem and midbrain. As the mass grew, it blocked the normal drainage pathway for the fluid, causing pressure to increase. This blockage is also what led to the symptoms Collins began experiencing.”

Collins then went home Feb. 1 before returning to UW for her second and more extensive surgery Friday, in which most of the growth was removed over 10½  hours.

“Her second surgery began with the placement of an External Ventricular Drain,” said Collins. “This was done to help remove and monitor brain fluid during and after surgery, especially while the team worked to remove the mass. Once the drain was in place, the main focus of the surgery was removing the mass from Collins’ brain.”

Because of the proximity of the growth to her brain stem, doctors were concerned about nerve damage involving her left side. However, Charyle said Collins began moving her left leg Saturday morning, and strength in her left arm improved.

“The road to recovery will be a marathon, with some setbacks along the way,” said Charlye. “Collins will need time to regain her strength, especially on her left side. At this point, we do not yet have the pathology results or genetic testing, which will help determine if and what additional treatment may be needed. Depending on those results, Collins may require further treatment such as an additional surgery if imaging shows the remaining small portion of the mass can be safely removed, or treatments such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiation therapy.”

Updates will be posted at www.caringbridge.org; search for Collins Jenkins.

“We have been overwhelmed with gratitude, proud to live in this community, and honestly a little shocked at how far the support has spread and how many people have come together to pray for Collins,” said Charlye. “On the day of her surgery, it meant so much to receive supportive messages, see pictures of everyone wearing pink for Collins, and read the social media posts.

“We have always been thankful for the community we live in, but this has truly shown us just how special it is. My husband and I are very active in our local youth wrestling program, and they have truly rallied behind us, along with other local clubs. It meant so much to see them show their support, even changing their BP logo to pink on the day of Collins’ surgery.

“Elite Fitness in Lancaster even hosted a rowing marathon for the entire time Collins was in surgery. Complete strangers rowed for our little girl, and we will never forget how much that helped carry us through such a long and difficult day.”

The irony of a life-changing event such as a child’s suffering a serious illness is that it brings out support, sometimes from unexpected places.

“While we are incredibly unfortunate to be facing this situation with our little girl, we are also extremely fortunate to have the support that has surrounded us. Being here at Children’s Hospital; we can see that not every family receives this kind of love and encouragement,” said Charlye. “Without us even asking, our family, friends, community, coworkers and even complete strangers have rallied behind us.

“We have reconnected with friends we haven’t seen in a long time, and we’ve also had parents we don’t know whose children have battled or are currently battling childhood illnesses reach out to offer support, encouragement, and a listening ear. Their kindness has meant so much, especially because they truly understand what this feels like.

“Right now, we are deeply thankful for all of the support, for the incredible care Collins has received at UW American Family Children’s Hospital, and for the advanced medical system that gives us many options to help Collins get better.”