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May 19, 2008 10:00 pm US/Central
Aledo 6-Year-Old Ready For Brain Removal Surgery
(CBS 11 / TXA 21)
Six year old Jessie Hall has a rare disease that if untreated could eventually cause her death. Doctors are now just weeks away from removing half of her brain.
Recently Jessie and her family met with surgeons at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. CBS 11 News has an exclusive look at how the family is preparing for the delicate operation.
Cris Hall says he was more nervous at meeting his daughter's neurosurgeon than he would be to meet the President of the United States.
Doctor Benjamin Carson is a world renowned surgeon and to the Hall family there is no bigger celebrity.
The only one who didn't seem nervous about meeting Carson was little Jessie. The little girl from Aledo wanted to know six-year-old when her life would rest in Carson's hands. "Are you going to take half of my brain out?" she asked. Carson questioned back, "Would you like me to?" The child answered back confidently, "Yeah."
The idea of partial brain removal may sounds radical but for someone like Jessie, who suffers from Rasmussen's Encephalitis, removing half of her brain will give her the best chance of having a normal life.
Jody Miller says the operation is 'not that bad' and she should know. She had the surgery 15 years ago. Jody and her parents have been spending time with Jessie's family in Baltimore... to show them life does go on.
Not only does Jody still dance and run, she's about to graduate high school. Jody told CBS 11 News, "I plan on going to college and becoming a teacher."
Without the surgery the disease would continue to attack the right side of Jessie's brain and would leave her increasingly incapacitated. Jessie's mother, Kristi Hall, says they are already seeing changes. "This morning, she woke up and had very distinctive jerking to the left."
While Jessie is not expected to regain the function of her left arm doctors are hopeful she will still be active. "I have a very good feeling about what's going to happen," Carson said.
Johns Hopkins Hospital has been doing hemispherectomies for 20 years. That is one of the major reason Kristi and Cris Hall took Jessie there for surgery.
Although they worry, as any parent would, they trust the hands there to make sure their rambunctious little girl won't change too much.
Jessie celebrated with her entire kindergarten class before she left North Texas. Her parents hope to one day worry about 'normal things'… like boyfriends!
Jessie's surgery is scheduled for June 11th. CBS 11 News will follow her progress and have updates on her condition. In the meantime, her parents have set up a scholarship fund for other kids with similar conditions.
Click here to find out more about the scholarship and read Jessie's Blog.
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