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

Monday, November 24, 2008

Day 11 of 12. 1:35 pm

Lauren got to the hospital around 8:30 am today. She did get sick again after taking her daily medications (steroids, anti-seizure, anti-urinary tract infection, and anti-nausea). They also took blood tests, but none of the medical people seem to be really concerned. While they don't like to see her in pain, they don't think it's any of the things I diagnosed. They all think it's just the normal reaction to 10 days of chemo. So after taking labs and an hour of hydration, she is now getting the chemo, Thiotepa, via IV. Tonight she'll get 110 mg of the chemo Temador and 1 syringe of the chemo Etoposide. Tomorrow she'll follow the same routine and then she is done!! No more chemo for awhile.

Her next MRI is scheduled for Dec. 24th. We still haven't heard anything in regard to the chemical results from her last MRI.

Posted by admin at 2:00 PM

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