Alicia L. - Quilt Finished in 2006
Born: January 14, 2004
Illness: Pilomyxoid Astrocytoma, Hydrocephalus
A Thank you from Alicia's Family!
Written May 16, 2006
We received the quilt and it is very beautiful. there was a lot of hard work and time devoted to do something extra special for the kids. Alicia is doing fairly well considering the chemo. She has started having some reactions to the chemo that is currently being treated with other medications. Thank you so much for caring and taking the time to give something extremely special to the kids. God truly has blessed all of you and made you angels in the eyes of the little ones.
Sincerely,
Marcia L. Mother of Alicia L.
Alicia L.'s Story
written by mom Marcia
Alicia was born on January 14, 2004 at 7:34 PM and weighed 6 lb. and 13 oz. and 19 inches long. She led a normal childhood until approxiamately 6 months prior to December 2, 2005. During this 6 months signs started to present what wasn't quite right but it wasn't enough to bring our attention to it. She started tilting her head to one side and running into walls. She would also vomit around the same time these other symptoms presented. The family just thought she had an ear infection and the doctor would treat as such. We had only been seeing a family physician until a month before they found the tumor. The second time the pediatrician saw my daughter she was exibiting the same signs.
The doctor saw nothing in her ears but did notice that my daughter's eyes were not tracking well this visit. The doctor then sent my daughter to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.
While in the ER at Vandy they had several doctors come in and look at my daughter. All of which saw nothing wrong with her. They checked her eyes, ears, nose and throat. They thought this could have been 2 year old behavior. They finally agreed to do a CT scan of the head after our Pediatrician got to Vandy. On the CT scan they found a mass and severe Hydrocephalus that would need to be operated on that week. This started a long journey of treatments and surgeries.
On December 6, 2005 Alicia went through her first resection. On December 13, 2005 she went through her second resection. Between both surgeries they were 95% successful at removing the tumor.
On December 17, 2005 she had her portacath placed for chemo. On December 19, 2005 she had her first shunt surgery. She then went an additional 6 weeks in the hospital for a fever of unknown origin before they externalized the shunt and then placed another on the opposite side in early January. On February 16, 2006 we had a G-tube placed for feeding because she wasn't eating enought to sustain her weight or life.
Currently we are at the end of her induction phase to chemo and will have another MRI to see if anything has changed since the beginning of January. They MRI they did in January had shown two new growths, one on the lower spine, and the other on the front of the brainstem. The nurosurgeon things this is inoperable. Thank you for your time and consideration. Lots of prayers and love for all the kids that are in medical need.
Written by Alicia's mom Marcia in March 2006
