This Little Girl Started Walking On Her Tip Toes And Then She Was Diagnosed With A Tumor On Her Brainstem That’s Hard To Treat
Memphis, Tennessee. Brayleigh is a little girl who currently is at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.
Brayleigh went on vacation to Florida with her family for a week recently, and while she was there, some worrisome things started happening to her.
She started walking on the tips of her toes, her walk became less steady, her face began drooping a bit, and her toes and hands on her left side seemed weak.
Brayleigh’s mom Christi wasted no time taking her to a local emergency room, and there she was diagnosed as having a tumor along her brainstem.
Christi booked a flight back home for the next day, and she then rushed Brayleigh to the Children’s Hospital located in Milwaukee.
GoFundMe; pictured above is Brayleigh
“It occurs in an area of the brainstem (the lowest, stem-like part of the brain) called the pons, which controls many of the body’s most vital functions such as breathing, blood pressure, and heart rate, and every day activities such as walking and swallowing,” Brayleigh’s aunt Erika explained on a GoFundMe page.
“It also affects the nerves and muscles that help us see, hear, and talk. Symptoms usually develop rapidly in the majority of patients because of the fast growth of these tumors.”
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“Unfortunately this type of tumor is inoperable and does not respond to chemotherapy due to its location in such a sensitive part of the brain.”
“DIPG is very rare and only affects 250-300 children in the United States per year.”
Brayleigh’s family quickly began looking into different clinical trials she could be a part of after they were delivered this devastating news.
They then learned that St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis had several clinical trials that Brayleigh might be able to partake in, and they took the steps to get her accepted.
After Brayleigh was accepted, she transferred to St. Jude’s, and she is currently waiting to have a biopsy done on her tumor.
“Turns out Brayleigh may qualify for four different trials at St.Jude, we just need to find the one that fits her best,” Erika continued.
“They will start with a simple needle biopsy of the tumor on Friday. This could give us some insight as to what type of tumor we are actually dealing with.”
As you can imagine, insurance won’t cover all of Brayleigh’s medical expenses, and that is why Erika created a GoFundMe page for her.
“Any excess $ that has not been utilized through this process will then be donated to support research and further clinical trials to find a cure for this terrible type of childhood cancer,” Erika noted about the GoFundMe page.
If you would like to donate to help with Brayleigh’s medical expenses, you can do that here.
More About:Human Interest
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