Discovery, Diagnosis, Treatment
The diagnosis report of a malignant tumor, Medulloblastoma was a total shock. How could a seemingly healthy young girl be stricken with such a disease? We learned statistically that 80% of cases are in young children ages 2 to 5. Stevie just celebrated her 5th birthday in May, 2009.
Discovery
The discovery of Stevie’s illness came without many symptoms. She mentioned times that her head hurt, pointing to the front of her head. Every now and then, in the mornings, she experienced light nausea for no apparent reason. She occasionally told us she had trouble seeing the television program. At this point we felt it might be a case of eye strain. A visit to her pediatrician, Dr. Michael Rabalais led her to an eye exam. The Pediatric Opthamoligist, Dr. Richard Piccione, at Lafayette Family Eye Care noticed a slight irritation on her optic nerve and out of caution ordered an MRI test. Thank God for his attentive concern. This test identified the presence of a large growth, which later was diagnosed as a tumor. This first step probably saved her life. The MRI clearly revealed a plum-sized tumor at the base of her brain.
Diagnosis
Through a family member’s referral, Stevie’s parents, Angel & Shawn, took her to see Dr. Stephen A Fletcher at Herman Mermorial Children’s Hospital at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Upon viewing the MRI, Dr. Fletcher immediately scheduled her for brain surgery, Stevie was admitted into the intensive care unit. The surgery was less than 24 hours later, a procedure lasting over 8 hours.
Treatment
The surgery removed the tumor from within Stevie's brain. Following surgery Stevie remained in the intensive care unit (ICU) for seven days. The pressure within her brain caused a second operation to install a shunt (small tube) from the brain area into her abdomen to regulate the cranial pressure. From ICU she moved to an intermediate care room. Once it had been determined that the shunt procedure was successful Stevie moved to a room at M D Anderson Children's Cancer center at the Texas Medical Center. There she met Dr. Johannes Wolf who is professor for pediatrics and biostatistics at the University of Texas M D Anderson Cancer Center, head of the section for pediatric neurooncology at the Children’s Cancer Hospital, and director of the pediatric neurooncology fellowship program. He is a clinically working pediatric neurooncologist taking care of children with brain tumors and their families. Stevie is now in a treatment program involving 6 weeks of daily radiation, Monday through Friday. Each day she is sedated and precision proton radiation techniques are used to destroy selected cancer cells. One day per week she undergoes a 15 minute, small dose of chemotherapy treatment. Following the period of radiation treatment she will undergo 9 (4-day) chemotherapy sessions over the next 12 months (every 6 weeks).
Treatment in Lafayette
Stevie's chemo treatment began in Houston, Texas at MD Anderson. The challenges were many for Stevie, friends and family. The distance from home made the travel a difficult challenge. Support from others was difficult. The trip to and from Houston, a trip that could be normally completed in 3.5 hours could on days take 5 to 7 hours. Finding Dr. Ammar Morad was a wonderful gift. Dr. Morad is the pediatric hematologist / oncologist at Women's and Children's Hospital in Lafayette, Louisiana. Dr. Morad's professional knowledge and wonderful support team helped make the decision to move the treatment protocol to Lafayette.