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

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Day 10. Lauren seemed a wee bit tired today. Except she still had enough energy to play and swim with her neighbor Madysen. I think the chemo is finally catching up to her. We go to CHLA tomorrow and Tuesday for two days of chemo via IV in addition to the Etopian (chemo) and Temador(chemo), and then, believe it or not, we are done with the chemo for cycle 1 of Phase II. She'll go back to CHLA on Friday to receive a bag of her stem cells. At that point we'll be staying at the Ronald McDonald's house for 10 staight days. If I haven't mentioned it already, they (the Ronald McDonald people) approved the exception in allowing 3 adults. While I heard it's very nice, I have no idea what to expect. Hopefully her ANC count will bounce back quickly, and we won't have to stay there all 10 days. Of course, if its anything like the last time, we may end of staying at Ronnie's house for a month.

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