On February 13, 1996, Christina Santhouse had half her brain removed after coming down with a rare disease. At the time, she was 15 years old.
When Christina was around seven or eight years old, she was diagnosed with Rasmussen’s encephalitis, a rare autoimmune disease usually found in children. There are an estimated 200 to 500 cases worldwide.
The condition is life-threatening, causing the body to attack the brain and kill off cells. One hemisphere of Christina’s brain was inflamed.
She suffered from many seizures. By the time she was eight years old, she would sometimes have up to 150 seizures per day.
Doctors said she would need a hemispherectomy, a 14-hour surgical procedure that involved removing the diseased half of the brain.
Ultimately, the right side of Christina’s brain was surgically removed. As a result, she lost most of the motor skills on the left side of her body. Even though she only had half a brain, she was determined not to let it stop her from reaching her goals.
In high school, she was like any other teen. She was athletic, a fan of the boy band *NSYNC, and loved to chat on her cell phone. She was the captain of her bowling team. She was also an honors student and maintained a high GPA.
By the age of 17, she got her driver’s license, proving her doctors wrong. She had been told that she would never be able to drive a car. But being told she couldn’t, motivated her to try even harder.
She decided that she wanted to become a speech pathologist. After high school, she attended Misericordia University and earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees in five years.
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She got a job at Bucks County Intermediate Unit and saved up enough money to buy a house. She also joined a church group and met her husband. At first, he didn’t even notice that she had a disability until she mentioned it one day.
Before they started a family together, they consulted with several specialists to discuss the risks of pregnancy. They all concluded that it was safe. One day, Christina discovered that she was pregnant. From then on, she practiced baby care skills.
During her third trimester, she developed a potentially dangerous condition that reduces bile flow. It could lead to premature labor, fetal distress, or stillbirth. At 35 weeks, she went to the emergency room and was given medication to stop her contractions.
The next week, doctors induced her labor, according to plan. After 12 hours of labor, her daughter was born on June 5, 2017. Having an infant was made all the more challenging since Christina had only one working arm and weakness throughout her left side. But she persisted and did not stop until she perfected a task.
When their daughter was 14 months old, Christina found out she was pregnant again. This time around was also difficult, but with support from her family and community, she managed to raise two kids.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
