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Early 2018 (when I was 15), a 3cm in diameter brain tumour was detected lodged in my brain stem. I had a 14 hour operation that my neurosurgeon, Dr Bassal Zebian, said was the second trickiest brain stem tumour he had ever operated on. 

When I woke up, I could not move. I had lost all sensation, speech and coordination. I spent 7 months in PICU/PHDU receiving intense neuro-rehabilitation. During my stay, I raised £3,000 for the paediatric neuro-rehabilitation team at King's College Hospital by painting doctors, nurses and therapists into drag queens! Here’s the justgiving page for that fundraiser, if you want to have a look:

➡️ https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ikuko-subiger3

This also doubled as a great (occupational therapy) exercise for my fine motor skills! My hand-eye coordination improved tremendously! 

When I left King’s College Hospital, I could still not walk or talk. I continued my rehabilitation at The Children’s Trust for 11 more weeks. Here I raised £700 for them by selling hand painted glassware! Which again, helped with my fine motor skills and my handwriting. 

Finally, I returned home, just in time for Christmas 2018! I returned back to school part-time and managed to sit my GCSEs after 3 months of studying, achieving great results! 

In September 2019, I returned back to school full-time to study for my A levels. I’m studying chemistry, biology and maths. I am hoping to do chemical engineering at Imperial College London. :)

…

One of my routine MRI scans of my brain showed that I had some growth to the little bit of tumour they had left in from the original operation. The solution was simple; one session of radiotherapy. However, this February, my blood pressure regulation was worse than usual; this was caused by swelling of the tumour - a natural response to radio (it can swell before it shrinks). I ended up fainting and my parents had to resuscitate me at home before calling an ambulance. This was the start of a 6-week period where I was readmitted 3 separate times. After many many MRIs, CT scans and 2 operations related to my brain, I’m home again. 

I am very thankful for the 200+ NHS staff that I have met who have helped me at King’s, no matter how big or small that gesture is/was. I’m especially grateful for Dr Zebian, his whole team and the anaesthetist, Carlos Fernandez! 

I want to raise money for King’s College Hospital to help with the COVID-19 situation, since they have done so much for me! So, I have created an Etsy shop to sell paintings that I have personally painted! All proceeds go towards King’s College Hospital. Check it out here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/EmiliesArtForTheNHS?ref=search_shop_redirect

Or look up EmiliesArtForTheNHS in the Etsy search bar!

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