My name is Edna. I am 13 years old. I have gone through two craniotomies to remove a malignant brain tumor and to insert a shunt. I endured 6 weeks of radiation to my brain and spinal cord, along with many blood transfusions, the insertion of a nasal-gastric feeding tube and nine bouts of chemotherapy. All of this was to help keep me alive and help me live longer. I lost all my hair, eyelashes, eyebrows and my weight dropped to 44 pounds. My weight became critical for my treatment. People would just stare at me.
Through my journey, I have met other children with my same condition who did not survive the treatments. I think and wonder why they didn’t make it and why I’m still here. Maybe I tried hard to be strong and live longer, because I didn’t want to see my mother cry. Maybe because I tried to be brave and I pretended that I wasn’t in a lot of pain when I really was, or maybe my great-grandmother (who is in heaven) asked GOD to keep me alive longer. I like to believe that it was a little of everything. One think I know for sure, I always prayed to GOD, and I know in my heart that with every prick of the needle and with every pill I took, he was right there with me. Everyday that I wake up, I thank GOD for giving me a mother who sacrificed everything to stay by my side to make my life as normal as possible in the midst of my pain and agony.
I am now disabled because of everything I have been through. The whole left side of my body is weaker now. I finished my chemotherapy in July 2006 and I am now suffering the side effects. My hearing is bad because of the chemotherapy (it affects hearing). I believe in miracles, because I have survived what others haven’t and feel that my story and my life is a Miracle in itself, because I am still here.
I thank my doctors and all the wonderful people who took care of me at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and for all of those who prayed for my body to be strong. Mostly, I thank God for allowing me to see, think, talk, read, write and breathe.