A Bridgeport mom is undergoing treatment for an aggressive brain tumor operation that doctors say could leave her deaf or paralyzed.

Digna Rojas, of Bridgeport, underwent her first surgery to remove the tumor at a New York hospital on Thursday.

Her cousin Prisila Ribeiro tells News 12 the surgery took 17 hours and that Rojasof still has more surgery next week.

Ribeiro says that the family's whole life ground to a halt when her 40-year-old cousin got sick out of the blue.

"This was a happy family — a happy family thinking in the future when they get older, what they're going to do when they get retired and — when the kids go to college — and now everything stopped,” she said.

As everyone waits to see the outcome of the surgery, Ribeiro is hopeful that Rojas and the family will be OK.

"My hope is that she can get her life back,” she said. "The family is the most important thing."

The family has started a GoFundMe to raise money for medical expenses.