The Nihei's: Our Story
On April 1, 2008, our 4-year-old daughter, Lauren, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After her biopsy on April 8th it was determined that she had a bithalamic anaplastic astrocytoma with extension into her brain stem.
In the beginning of March we noticed a personality change in Lauren who normally is a very outgoing and happy-go-lucky kid. She became very clingy and shy. She didn't want to talk on the phone anymore, or play on the slide with the other kids at pre-school. By mid-March, Lauren started complaining about headaches. Her pediatrician thought it might be a sinus infection or that she may need glasses. He put her on antibiotics and we made an eye appointment.
A few days later when she started holding her head funny and her headaches returned we insisted on a CT scan. That's when her pediatrician sent us to the ER at Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) for a CT scan, and when our world was turned upside down and our nightmare began...
Story continues at bottom of page
Yesterday, Lauren received a blanket that her pre-school made for her. It had pictures of her teachers, all her class mates, along with their hand prints. It was beautiful. She did point out a boy named Brock who she said she was going to marry. I told her I'm going to have a little talk with Brock, but I also told her she can't get married until she graduates from college. Which she agreed to.
Lauren has a chemo injection today. Just a simple push, then she won't have any more chemo until the 1st week of June. Yay! This is the chemo the may cause her hair to fall out. We're afraid with this injection combined with the one last week may do it. We're going to have to explain to her soon that her hair will fall out, but that it will grow back. We just don't want to tell her too soon, we don't want her to stress out.
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