Claudia Barata
Chop to your chin
Fundraising for Jersey Brain Tumour Charity
Story
On 14th of October 2017 I have decided to cut my long locks to a short bob to mark the year anniversary since my daughter, Hailie, was diagnosed with a brain tumour just after her 1st birthday.
My world fell apart...
At around 8pm on 13th October 2016, Hailie had a seizure at home, not knowing what to do, I rushed her straight to the A&E Department where the seizure carried on for another hour until they were able to stabilise her. They then took Hailie for what they said was a routine a CT scan where i was told this would only be about ten minutes, few hours on and they came to give us the devastating news that they had found a tumour in Hailies brain. By 1am we were asked to say our goodbyes as we were told she might not make it over alive and she was taken from us and flown straight to Southampton by a small emergency coastguard helicopter (as the air ambulance was not available on the island at the time!) for us then to have to wait to catch the first 7am flight over to join her. When we arrived, Hailie was in a stable but critical condition ,they showed us an MRI scan of Hailies brain and when I saw the size of the tumour it looked huge compared to the size of her head, my instant thought was there is no way she is going to make it. The neurosurgeon looking after Hailie, then gave us the possible outcomes that could happen if they were to try to remove it. We were left with the decision, whether to operate and take the risks given with any surgery on the brain, or let Hailie die. We obviously decided that they should go ahead and we were told that the surgery would last around 6 hours to remove some and couple days later they would do another 6 hours to remove the rest, by 11am she was already in theatre. 2 surgeons,12 hours and a blood transfusion later Hailie came out of surgery and the tumour was fully removed. The neurosurgeons were over the moon with how well the surgery went (Hailie ended up having 2 of the best surgeons operating on her instead of just the 1!) We then had to wait a few days until she was able to come around from the surgery to see how Hailie had dealt with the operation. Fortunately to this day we have been very lucky that Hailie only suffers from minor balance difficulties which effects her ability to walk but should gradually come back over time which is the least of my worries knowing what all the other possible outcomes could of been. I am just thankful my baby girl is still here today!
A year on and I am so proud of my daughter and the determination and fight she has shown and so far we have been blessed all her check ups since have come back clear.
We were very lucky to have received the support of the Jersey Brain Tumour Charity after having to take a lot of time off work and now I'd like to give back so that they can continue to help others going through similar journeys to ours. Id also like to raise awareness for this charity and if you could support and give the page a like and a share as not enough people on our island are aware this charity exists and they are around to help anyone and everyone affected by a brain tumour, past or present.
I have chosen to donate my hair to the Little Princess Trust who make wigs for children who suffer from hair loss whether its from cancer treatment or alopecia and I hope giving them my hair will make a difference to a child somewhere.
My world fell apart...
At around 8pm on 13th October 2016, Hailie had a seizure at home, not knowing what to do, I rushed her straight to the A&E Department where the seizure carried on for another hour until they were able to stabilise her. They then took Hailie for what they said was a routine a CT scan where i was told this would only be about ten minutes, few hours on and they came to give us the devastating news that they had found a tumour in Hailies brain. By 1am we were asked to say our goodbyes as we were told she might not make it over alive and she was taken from us and flown straight to Southampton by a small emergency coastguard helicopter (as the air ambulance was not available on the island at the time!) for us then to have to wait to catch the first 7am flight over to join her. When we arrived, Hailie was in a stable but critical condition ,they showed us an MRI scan of Hailies brain and when I saw the size of the tumour it looked huge compared to the size of her head, my instant thought was there is no way she is going to make it. The neurosurgeon looking after Hailie, then gave us the possible outcomes that could happen if they were to try to remove it. We were left with the decision, whether to operate and take the risks given with any surgery on the brain, or let Hailie die. We obviously decided that they should go ahead and we were told that the surgery would last around 6 hours to remove some and couple days later they would do another 6 hours to remove the rest, by 11am she was already in theatre. 2 surgeons,12 hours and a blood transfusion later Hailie came out of surgery and the tumour was fully removed. The neurosurgeons were over the moon with how well the surgery went (Hailie ended up having 2 of the best surgeons operating on her instead of just the 1!) We then had to wait a few days until she was able to come around from the surgery to see how Hailie had dealt with the operation. Fortunately to this day we have been very lucky that Hailie only suffers from minor balance difficulties which effects her ability to walk but should gradually come back over time which is the least of my worries knowing what all the other possible outcomes could of been. I am just thankful my baby girl is still here today!
A year on and I am so proud of my daughter and the determination and fight she has shown and so far we have been blessed all her check ups since have come back clear.
We were very lucky to have received the support of the Jersey Brain Tumour Charity after having to take a lot of time off work and now I'd like to give back so that they can continue to help others going through similar journeys to ours. Id also like to raise awareness for this charity and if you could support and give the page a like and a share as not enough people on our island are aware this charity exists and they are around to help anyone and everyone affected by a brain tumour, past or present.
I have chosen to donate my hair to the Little Princess Trust who make wigs for children who suffer from hair loss whether its from cancer treatment or alopecia and I hope giving them my hair will make a difference to a child somewhere.