by Christie
My daughter Brittney is a brain tumor survivor. In Feb of 2006, at 10 years old, Brittney became very ill. She vomited daily and suffered with terrible headaches. We went to several doctors, but never seemed to get any answers. Finally, in August 2006, Brittney underwent an endoscopy. At that time they found a large ulcer. Finally, we thought we had an answer for all the vomiting. Although the medicine seemed to do nothing, we listened to the specialist and figured it would eventually get better. Needless to say, things did not get better.
For over 10 months, Brittney vomited everyday. It got to the point where she was taken out of school permanently. In December of 2006, while spending time with her great grandmother, she expressed that she "felt like she was going to die." Naturally her great grandmother was very concerned and brought her to stay with my mother. In the early morning hours of December 31, 2006, Brittney walked into her grandmother's room and said "take me to the hospital I am going to die." My mother quickly did as instructed. Once again, my mother was told that it was "probably migraines," but this time she demanded an x-ray of Brittney's brain. Moments after the x-ray, they told us Brittney had a "large mass" on the right side of her cerebellum. She was immediately shipped to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). They told us she had about 72 hours to live: "we operate and she lives or we don't, and she dies" (plain and simple).
On January 3, 2007, Brittney went into surgery. Brittney's operation was a total success. They were able to remove all traces of the tumor (an astrocytoma), and there was no cancer. Brittney left the hospital on January 9, 2007. She had months of physical therapy; but, today at age 14, Brittney is completely healthy. Although she needs to see a neurologist every 6 months and must have an MRI every year, she is doing great. There have been no recurrences and we are so thankful everyday. In 2009, Brittney and her aunt Maria, decided to walk in the Race for Hope - Philadelphia. It was a very moving and emotional time for Brittney and she loved it. She even met Mayor Nutter. With the help of her Aunt Maria they raised quite a bit of money ($400). She wants to do it again in 2010. We started our own team, TEAM BRITTNEY, and hope that you will support us in any way you can. With Much Love, Maria, Brittney and Christie
