one of my favorite patients from duke — S — is a 10 year old girl with a brain tumor. i cared for her during fellowship, after she had her first tumor resected and was left without pituitary function. she was one of my primary patients, and i was honored to get to know her (and her lovely mother and father) well over the years. she is a strong girl and so bright, and did so well after treatment, recovering and thriving on pituitary hormone replacement.
unfortunately, after i left i got word that S had developed a new tumor (always a risk at the site of previous irradiation). even though it’s a known complication, it was pretty shocking to hear. one extremely bittersweet bright spot was that she was recently able to take a magical vacation through the make-a-wish foundation. she had asked about doing this previously, but as she was considered ‘cured’ and was just on replacement therapies, her application had been turned down.
the trip was wonderful for S and i am thrilled she was able to take it. however, currently her prognosis is not good. this is heartbreaking but i will continue to have hope for her. she is such a fighter.
anyway, i am not sharing this with her family, but in her honor the blog proceeds from january / feb (~$110 in total) will go to the make-a-wish foundation.
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