Our youngest daughter, Valerie
Grace was diagnosed with a brain tumor on
January 31st 2005 at the age of 10 months. She was perfectly healthy
prior, with no symptoms until 2 days before her MRI. She had surgery at Shands Hospital on
February 7th, 2005. The surgery was done by two
great neurosurgeons,
Dr. David Pincus and
Dr. Arthur "Jay" Ulm III.
At last check, the tumor (which had grown all
the way back) appears to be shrinking.
We were told that Valerie's left
optic nerve was removed during surgery and that
she was blind in that eye. However, she can
track light with the bad eye and the MRI showed
an optic nerve. Her other eye was 20/20 as of
Fall 2007. She is now three years
old. Other
than the 3 weeks she has been in the hospital
since 2005 - she has had days filled with
laughter and joy. We are currently living in
Ecuador, South America on the edge of the Amazon
rainforest. Please visit our new website for
current updates and pictures.
www.thewelchfamily.org . Valerie Grace is
now 4 years old. The type of tumor she
had partially removed was a Pilomyxoid variant
of a low grade Pilocytic Astrocytoma (JPA) in
the optic chiasm/ hypothalamic area; a rare
tumor that is only seen in very young children.
There is no known curative treatment. There is
research being done at Johns Hopkins and at
Shands Hospital (where they are growing
Valerie's tumor that was removed).
God has taught us so much through this that
we wanted to share with others our experience. We
truly rejoice in all that He has done and are
thankful that He has shown us His mercy and His
peace! Feel free to read about
our journey.
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