Baby lives with half a brain

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/865150/Baby-lives-with-half-a-brain-after-miracle-operation.html




Baby lives with half a brain
She'll learn how to use one side for everything

BACK HOME: With mum and dad
By Martyn Halle, 04/07/2010

LITTLE Angelina Mills had the RIGHT half of her brain ravaged by a rare condition... but thanks to miracle surgery she's LEFT with a great chance of a normal life.

For in a groundbreaking op doctors "switched off" the side which was so badly damaged by a BIRTHMARK it could have killed her.


And they say year-old Angelina will be as good as new as the left half of her brain takes over tasks the disconnected side would normally carry out.


Mum Lisa smiled: "We've been told there's a good chance of normal development because she is so young."


Lisa, who discovered her daughter had Sturge Weber Syndrome BEFORE doctors diagnosed it... after finding the symptoms on the web, explained:


"The brain is very adaptable at such an early age and one half can more easily take over functions of the other. But without the surgery her outlook would have been bleak."


The nightmare began for hairdresser Lisa, 34, and dad Stephen, 43, when Angelina began having epileptic fits at only 18 weeks old.

She was born last June with a port wine birthmark on her face. Doctors who scanned her as a precaution after birth found nothing wrong.

Worried
But when Angelina started having fits, worried Lisa checked her symptoms online. She recalled: "I found that some children with a port wine stain have it on their brains as abnormal blood vessels."


Angelina was rushed back to Norfolk and Norwich Hospital but doctors dismissed Lisa's fears and prescribed antibiotics for risk of meningitis. They said Sturge Weber was so rare just 14 CHILDREN a year in the UK are born with it.


But after further tests and scans they admitted Lisa was right - and that her daughter's life was in danger. The abnormal blood vessels could cause a brain clot and so Angelina was put on aspirin to thin her blood. Lisa said: "Every time she had a fit it was a bit like having a small stroke and the brain became more damaged." Angelina was referred to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital where top surgeon William Harkness told Lisa and Stephen that, because the damage was on just one side of Angelina's brain he could carry out a life-changing operation. Called a hemispherectomy, it would involve disconnecting the damaged right hemisphere of the brain from the left. Stephen says: "Angelina was lucky. There are some kids who have it on both sides."


Mr Harkness and his team spent seven hours carrying out the meticulous disconnection 10 days ago. So far Angelina has had no more fits. And when her parents offered her a toy in her hospital bed she reached out with her RIGHT hand - controlled by the left side of the brain - which shows it is operating normally. "All the signs are good," smiled Lisa.


Angelina will need up to five years of rehabilitation, including physiotherapy and speech therapy and has an 80 per cent chance of being seizure-free. The family are trying to raise money towards a special light and sound sensory room to aid her recovery at home in Gresham, Norfolk. Lisa says: "We're so grateful to Great Ormond Street."


News of the World GP Dr Hilary Jones adds: "These operations are rare and risky - but they work. Children can do very well after this procedure. Angelina is very lucky."


TO donate to Angelina's fund visit www.angelinasdreams.org

There are miracles!

to everyone who contributed to this one.

Kate and gerry mccann manage to live with one brain cell between them, now that is news

A Real family photograph, can't imagine this father saying "XXXX off, I'm not here to enjoy myself."

What a lovely story, l really love people who defy the doctors Norwich & Norfolk is usually a brill hospital l know from experience with my little one.

I'm sure Angelina will grow up living a happy and fulfilling life.

Yes - such a lovely family and little Angelina (a close namesake) how wonderful that she will be ok. Yes - miracles do happen.

Angelique

Lisa, who discovered her daughter had Sturge Weber Syndrome BEFORE doctors diagnosed it... after finding the symptoms on the web, explained:


It looks like she had a really hard time convincing the docs that there was something wrong. What a brave mother!!