“Mr. & Mrs. Thoms, your daughter has a brain tumor”. Those were the numbing words delivered to my wife and I on October 4th, 2004.
One tends to think these are the words spoken to other people, or in the movies, but after a few weeks of wondering why our daughter was having facial seizures, we were socked with the devastating truth.
An MRI at Children’s Hospital Oakland revealed that our daughter, Camille had a tumor the size of a tennis ball inside her 7 year old brain.
We were introduced to Dr. Peter Sun, the head neurosurgeon at Children’s, who calmly outlined the necessity of removing the tumor immediately and the risks associated with it. There was a high chance of some facial paralysis. There was a decent chance of a full recovery. There was a small chance of the unthinkable.
Camille was on the operating room table within 24 hours. After an 8 ½ hour surgery, Camille awoke with a 100% clean bill of health. Our best hopes had been realized and after a miraculously quick one-week recovery, she was released.
Camille has Neurofibromatosis 2. It is a genetic disorder that affects 1 in every 40,000 individuals and it causes tumors, neurofibromas and schwannomas to grow in the brains, ears and spines of those affected. Until a cure is discovered, it is a condition which will require lifetime monitoring, MRIs 3-4 times a year, probable deafness and other conditions too numerous to detail.
My wife, Nicole and I feel extremely fortunate that we have the Children’s Hospital Oakland in our lives. We feel that were it not for this facility, our daughter might not be alive today.
Do not take this great hospital for granted. Most of us have loved ones who have been touched positively by the Children’s Hospital Oakland. And Children’s does not turn people away who cannot afford it.
Let’s support the home team
On behalf of my daughter, Camille and my wife, Nicole, I thank you.
Celebrate Life.
Roland Thoms
President, Varsity Painting
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| Camille update: September 15th, 2009
Since Camille’s brain tumor surgery 5 years ago, she has been a happy, thriving young lady. She entered middle school this fall with all the nervousness and anticipation of a typical 12 year old. We have been to Children’s Hospital Oakland every 4-6 months since then for MRIs and we have been monitoring several tumors throughout her body. She has a rather large one near her bladder that we are monitoring but currently have no plans for surgery. She is scheduled for ear surgery on her right ear on November 19th to have a tumor removed. The surgeon has indicated a 75% chance of hearing preservation. After that is done, we will then move on to the left ear. (Neurofibromatosis 2 typically results in deafness due to tumor growth in the ear canal). We are excited about the new Specialty care center that just opened in Walnut Creek with it’s state-of-the-art MRI machine. Camille loves being the poster child for the facility as we have done a few photo shoots already. |
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