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Welcome to Leah's Page! 
Leah was born January 18, 1995 at home after a healthy, normal pregnancy and has been a healthy girl all of her life. Our lives were suddenly changed in August 2004 when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
Welcome to Leah's Web Page. It has been provided to keep everyone updated about Leah and our brain tumor journey.
It started when Leah had "episodes" which we are still not sure when they began. It was during her ballet rehearsal in June 2004 that a full episode was witnessed and when the word "seizure" came to mind. Right in the middle of a dance she knew very well she suddenly stopped and wandered on the stage and was then confused. Thankfully, it was only a rehearsal and the actual recital went on without any incidents. We went to the family practitioner who said she probably has absence seizures and it's not likely a brain tumor. After an EEG and MRI, it was confirmed that she fell into the 1% of kids with seizures that are caused by a brain tumor. After much research and several opinions and much prayer, we decided to go to Stanford in Palo Alto, CA for her surgery by Dr. Michael Edwards. She has a wonderful neuro-oncologist, Dr. Paul Fisher, there also. She had a brain mapping grid placement surgery on 10/18/04, then recovery and 2 days of brain mapping by neurologist Dr. Donald Olson. This was to assure the surgeon of a safe entry point so as to not affect executive functions such as speech. Then the resection surgery was done on 10/22/04. Dr. Edwards, the neurosurgeon was able to remove almost all of the tumor except for a small amount attached to the vein of Rosenthal. The pathology came back as a ganglioglioma WHO grade I, which is considered benign. Because it is not impossible for the tumor to grow back and since a small amount was left, she is monitored with MRIs every 3 months, then 6 months and now once a year and will be monitored for 10 years! She has had many MRIs since surgery and they have been stable, thank God! They do show the residual tumor, but no change. Leah continues to have some complex partial seizures and is on anti-seizure medication. We had hoped she would be off by 3 months post-surgery, but had a "breakthrough" seizure just before that time. Then they increased in frequency. We have made adjustments to her dosage, but are looking into alternatives to help eliminate the seizures. Leah does also have some learning problems due to the location of the tumor. She has always been homeschooled like her 3 older brothers, and we weren't too worried when she had trouble reading. We just thought she was a late bloomer, but it soon became evident she had some classic symptoms of dyslexia. Now that we know the cause, we are finding different ways to teach Leah, one of the many advantages of homeschooling! Life will never be "normal" again in the Sherman household and we think that's a blessing. An event like this really makes one rethink what's important in this very short life on earth. God has been faithful and for that we are truly thankful.
Journal
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 8:02 PM CDT Goodness it's been a long time since the last update. There hasn't been much to say, except that Leah is doing well despite the occasional seizures.
Leah had her annual MRI yesterday and did well, needle and everything. Her arm was sore, but that's it. From our uneducated but experienced impression, the scans look the same. We will have an official report, maybe next week. The disk is off to Stanford for evaluation by the Tumor Review Board there which meets on Mondays.
We are still waiting for word on the assistance dog we applied for last year. We got an email from them recently saying she's on the waiting list. She's still dancing and will be in the recital this June performing in The Sleeping Beauty and doing 2 modern dances. One of the modern dances will be her own dance done to original music by her brother Aaron!
Please be praying for Ryan, Leah's cousin, who's been battling neuroblastoma for 5 of his 9 young years. He's had another relapse and is in a new clinical trial in Vermont.
Thank you all for the support and prayers!
Read Journal History
Hospital Information: Patient Room: at home Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford
Palo Alto, CA
Links: http://www.for-ryan.org Website for Leah's cousin Ryan who is currently fighting neuroblastoma, a rare childhood cancer He was diagnosed in January 2004 at 4 1/2 years at stage IV and has undergone many treatments. Please pray for him and his wonderful family!
http://www.bandofparents.org Grassroots organization of parents of neuroblastoma kids raising funds for research
http://abta.org American Brain Tumor Association, a website among many with lots of information on brain tumors and support.
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