12/24/09 Post Surgery (Doctor's Report)

Talitha with Mom in ICU recovering from surgery

Stiches on back of Talitha's head

The doctor removed virtually all of the tumor except a very small portion growing into the brain stem. The part of the brain stem it was growing into affects the facial muscles on the left side of the face. He took it as close as he dared but he will be watching her closely as she wakes up to see if there is any noticeable effect.

She will need chemotherapy. Due to her young age they will not do radiation. She will be fairly heavily sedated for the next 24 hours until they complete the MRI tomorrow. The doctor said that the MRI will probably show it is completely clean but he said there is a little bit in the brain stem. It did not originate in the brain stem fortunately.

She will have the tube to drain the fluids for the next few days. The doctor said she is recovering very well. She did lose one unit of blood and so they did need to do a transfusion. However, he said the overall operation went very well.