Noa B Noa Babis

D Block

My Miracle

     One of the most defining moments of my history started when I was five years old. During this fifth year I would get really bad headaches. After a while my mom decided to get a cat scan of my brain to see if there was anything wrong. It turns out that they found a rare brain tumor called craniopharyngioma. I was so little and did not really know what was going on, but my parents spent a large amount of their time looking for the right doctor. After a while they finally found a great doctor in Phoenix to do my surgery.

     The first surgery I had was to relieve my pain.  They put in a shunt.  The shunt drains spinal fluid into my belly from my brain.  The tumor was blocking the flow of spinal fluid and giving me headaches.  When we left Phoenix we knew we had a long road ahead.  My parents had to make a decision. Where should we go for treatment? In February we found the best place:  St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital located in Memphis, TN. 

     When we got there we knew that I had to be there six weeks for radiation. So we met with the best doctor that there ever was, Dr. Kun. He helped us every step of the way. Since we had to be there so long we had to figure out what we wanted to do for our spare time. One thing we did that I really enjoyed was going to see Elvis Presley’s house, which was unbelievable. We also went to the Memphis Children’s Museum where they had a variety of things to do. One of the things I remember most that they had was a fake food market, where you would actually push around a shopping cart and put the food items in the cart and then some kid would be at the cash register and check you out like they would do at a regular market.

     Throughout those weeks my mom and my grandma were always in Memphis with me.  My dad would go back and forth from Memphis to Tucson, and my sister surprised me and came to see me in the middle of the whole thing. At the end both my dad and my sister came for my last treatment and to take us home.  After I finished radiation we had go back for a follow up every three months and after the first year we went back every six months, and we did that until I was twelve years old.

     My mom and I had gone back for my six month follow up and I remember sitting in the doctor’s office waiting to hear what my MRI results were. When the doctor walked in both my mom and I knew from the look on his face that something was not right.  That’s when he said the tumor had come back. My mom and I were sitting there in tears both thinking how could this have happened. While we were sitting there I remember calling my dad on the phone in the doctor's office and just remember my mom telling him and his reaction was a mixture of sadness and anger.

     The one thing that is a little funny is while we were in this sad moment I asked my mom if I could get a cell phone since I had not had one already and been wanting one for a long time.  She said yes. After we caught our breath the doctor told us that he knew a doctor in New York named Dr. Wisoff.  He thought it would be best to see him for surgery.  He was a world famous doctor specializing my type of tumor. At that moment my parents knew that’s the way we wanted to go. So over the phone both my mom and dad talked to him and made the decision to go to New York and have the surgery there.  It was my first time going to New York and I was so excited for the city part, not the surgery part. Knowing we had to get there early anyway, we decided to go ten days prior to surgery.   We were determined to have the best time of our lives. 

     We rented an apartment close to the hospital and off we went to the East Coast.  The best part of NY was Times Square and all the lights. One of the places we went in Times Square was the M&M store, which was my all time favorite place. That was probably my favorite part because I do not remember much of what we saw before surgery because after surgery I do not really remember anything. The day of surgery came and I was nervous. To tell the truth I do not remember anything at all.  My parents say that friends and family came to visit. When they would come I remember that they would bring me gifts and I don’t even remember receiving the gifts they brought, I just remember them coming to visit. Other times I wouldn’t remember them coming or bringing anything. At night when it was time for bed either my mom or dad would stay and sleep with me in my room. I was so tired.

     When we got back to Tucson I would have been starting seventh grade that next school year.  During that year I remember struggling a little bit with the homework and schoolwork. The best part of that year was that all my teachers knew what had happened and were very helpful and loving to me. Then my eighth grade year I was more recovered and understood a little bit more than seventh grade. At the end of eighth grade all my teachers and my parents were very impressed and proud of me for improving from the year before. Today, I have to have an MRI every six months just to make sure everything is ok. Every time that time comes I get very nervous and hope that everything is healthy. Every time I get a headache now all I have to do is take an Advil. Here I am a healthy and happy fourteen year old girl and in my freshman year of high school. Some day I hope to go back to both New York, and Memphis to visit my doctors who saved my life.