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I love bunnies, making posters, and being funny!
My story: Victoria's Victory
My daughter, Vicki, fell ill in 2007 from strep throat after a ski trip to Laurel Creek Conservation. We were able to treat this, but she never got better. She was ill for another 6 weeks before we finally got some tests and treatments for her. She had really bad headaches that made her sick, and was extremely sick with an over production of bile for several weeks. Although, at the time, this was not the solution. They thought she had a stomach disorder, or cancer in her liver/gall bladder/or was just really nervous about school. She lost 20 pounds in 6 weeks. They were treating her for the flu, but this wasn't the problem. We managed to treat her with a reflux medicine to stop her from creating so much bile in her stomach. This apparently helped until the warmer weather came. Suddenly, the illness practically vanished. It seemed that at the time, but she was only going into remission I suppose.
She was fine all summer long, right into the start of the school year. Then things changed. They were worse than ever. She was so sick she couldn't attend school anymore. We practically watched her wither away into nothing. This time she was too sick to eat, her headaches were enormous and painful, much more than a migraine. All she could do to escape the suffering was sleep all day. Her symptoms became worse. She started to lose control of her legs, her writing was slow and she would become extremely dizzy. She was having fainting spells accompanied with seizures and speech problems. All these symptoms, but the doctors were still baffled. The medicine did not work this time. They ran more tests for her heart, blood and neurological issues. She failed the eye exam completely, but I couldn't understand what they were looking for. We felt so defeated. I was watching my daughter die slowly, and no one cared. We requested and MRI and a CT scan several times during the course of her illness. We were ignored and taken for granted. The doctors treated her so poorly. They didn't do anything to help her. We called Tele-Health, and they couldn't give us advice either. They said if she's not awake, she's having sleeping symptoms. My own family doctor's office at the time would not even help us. (They have a walk-in emergency clinic as well!)
At that time, I felt like I was dying as well.
Christmas last year was horrible. She was too sick to open her presents. She'd rather lay in bed and rest than do the typical holiday tradition like unwrapping presents. Not wanting to eat a thing, I convinced her to have a tablespoon of food from her plate. A bite of turkey, dressing, corn and mashed potato, which she inevitably threw up as usual anyways. It was like torture to feed her because nothing would stay down. She went for days without a solid meal at a time. On occasion, she felt well enough to stay up and watch tv with us. Rarely, would she even leave her own bed, which had become my bed because she was too sick to sleep in her bunk bed. The process of going through this day after day, having to watch her dissipate like this was more than a mother could fathom. She collapsed once more while I was grabbing her a stool to sit on. All she could say was " I'm sorry , I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"..I cried so much because she was apologizing for causing a scene.... A child who has suffered needlessly for months was feeling bad for all of US!
It was New Year's eve, and we had a couple of friends over to play a game, and have a quiet night in since we didn't know what would happen to her if we went out. After they had left, she collapsed a fourth time and cracked her head into our coffee table (which is solid wood and very hard) She could not move again. She also broke her molar from the impact. She had fallen numerous times before then and was paralyzed from the waist down. In the back of my mind, I thought she wasn't going to live through the next month. My boyfriend knew by then she was sick with a brain tumour, but he couldn't convince the other doctors, and couldn't tell me because it would just kill me. He insisted on that MRI, and we pleaded with every single physician we saw. They just wouldn't listen to us, and they didn't care to help.
Finally, a miracle...
Our family member who had moved out of town mentioned that her doctor may consider taking Vicki as a walk-in patient, and made arrangements to visit him. We were so desperate at this point that we were willing to do anything to help her. So on that day, January 2, 2008 we took her to the clinic in Cambridge. Dr. Wozniak is a saint for this: He did the regular check-ups and tests, and within 5 minutes we had an appointment booked for a CT scan at Grand River Hospital. He wasted no time in telling me that if the CT scan showed anything then they would immediately book an MRI follow-up. There wasn't a moment to waste. He saw it within meeting her for the first time. She was deathly ill, and needed immediate help. I was so relieved that he was making this effort where no other hospital or clinic did.
We rushed her to the appointment later that week where they found a suspicious looking mass at the back of her skull. They followed up with an MRI and revealed the bad news to me. It was only her and I that day. Michael was working out of town, and had JUST LEFT the day before this appointment. He was flown to Quebec for a 3 week contract, and was nowhere near when I heard the news. I was appalled, and in utter shock that she was sick with a brain tumour, and it may be the worst form of it. I panicked and called my mother-in-law at home to pick up her clothing and my paper work. We were heading to Hamilton for emergency surgery. There was a chance it was also benign, so I had some hope. But for the informing doctor to clearly announce this in front of Vicki, he had no problem saying this as if she was probably going to die a horrible death. (A few weeks ago she was watching an episode of Oprah where she was visiting a sick children's hospital where they had all kinds of cancer, one boy having cancer of the brain, and I had just lost my step-father to lung cancer the summer before at a young age of 59.) She related to cancer as dying, and tumours were always cancerous. And there was no way of sugar coating this so it wouldn't sound as horrifying as it actually was.
We went to Hamilton McMaster's Children's Hospital by ambulance at 10 PM that night. They quickly gave her some steroids to relieve the pressure to her cranium (this was the cause of her headaches the entire time.) We arrived at about 11 that night and they took her into the O.R. by 12:30 am. It was went so well that I thought 'that was it, she was better' and could return home again soon. This was not the case. She still had this lump in her which HAD to be removed. Upon further diagnosis they revealed that it was an astounding 6x4x2 cm mass located in the brain stem and had to be surgically resected. Not only was I in a state of shock because of the fact of it being a tumour, but they said it was the largest tumour they have ever seen here, and had probably been growing since birth. Two nights later, and Michael was with me again at that point, thankfully, because having to go through this with her all by myself was more painful than anything I had ever been though.
The operation was a total success, and was finished before eight hours-it was done in just over four! The surgeons (Dr. Singh and Dr. Hollenberg) had reserved enough blood supply for 2 people just in case, and said she was doing fine. I was thrilled that she managed to make it through all this in a week. She was moved from PCCU (Pediatric Critical Care Unit) after a short time and placed in the regular children's ward. She was then transferred from Hamilton's McMaster's Children's Hospital to undergo intensive therapy since she lost her ability to walk and sit up straight for a short time. Vicki stayed at Bloorview Kids Rehab for another 4 months until they decided she was well enough to come home. Finally, after several months of worry and emotional chaos she came home. (April 25th, 2008) I'll never forget the comforting feeling of having her back home again. Her personality was quieter, and sometimes awkward, but she came back one hundred percent. I'm not a firm believer in miracles, but the day the surgeons saved her life I was forever at their mercy.
Today she is attending school full time, but has slight issues regarding balance and vision due to far-sightedness. There have been some minor adjustments required upon returning home which required more physiotherapy and tutoring. She's had some headaches in her forehead since then, and still finds some difficulty in her balance. We continue to visit McMaster's Children's Hospital for semi-annual MRI's and check-ups at the Oncology Clinic with Dr. Hollenberg, as well as a bi-annual visit to Bloorview Kids' Rehab with Dr. Laura McAdam.
This will bring you up to date as to where Vicki is at this point of time.
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