Pediatrics - SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center

of years. Recently, they got really bad. “I was sick all weekwith migraines, double vision and vomiting,” Marissasays. By the weekend she was worse, and on Sunday, Dec.18, 2011, Nancy called Marissa’s pediatrician’s physicianexchange. They were referred to SSM St. Joseph HospitalWest near their home where Marissa had a CT scan. Thescan revealed a mass in her head and she was transferred toSSM Cardinal Glennon by ambulance the same evening.“We were met by a neurosurgery resident in the ER whenwe arrived,” Nancy says. “He was very good at explainingto us what was going on and the next steps that would betaken.”On Monday morning, the Deerings met Dr. Elbabaa whoordered an MRI of Marissa’s head. It showed that Marissahad a large meningioma brain tumor that arose from thesac at the mid-line and was compressing her brain. Atthis point, it was unclear if the tumor was cancerous. Dr.Elbabaa performed surgery the same day, and after fivehours the Deerings received the best news of their lives.“It was 3:31 p.m. on the nose, and we got a call sayingthat Dr. Elbabaa was closing and coming to talk with us,”Nancy remembers. “He said, ‘I have wonderful news. It’snot cancer,’” Nancy adds, “It was a Christmas miracle.”While in the hospital, Marissa slept a lot and noticedsome dizziness and short term memory loss. Dr. Elbabaaexplains that recovery time, as well as outcome andprognosis, depends on the location and pathology of thetumor. For example, if a tumor is near the brain stem,a prolonged period of rehabilitation may be required,whereas removal of a tumor closer to the brain’s surfacerequires less recovery time and causes fewer neurologicalimpairments. No matter the situation, Dr. Elbabaa makesthe patient and their family aware of the expected andpossible impairments prior to surgery.The Deerings made it home before Christmas, havingonly spent 4 days in the hospital. “Marissa’s recoveringunbelievably,” Nancy says.“Neurosurgery is a fascinating field where we can seeimmediate improvement,” Dr. Elbabaa says. “An excellentoutcome is dependent on surgical planning, coordinationand collaboration, and we spend a tremendous amountof time on all of this.”The average time it takes to remove a brain tumor isbetween 4-10 hours. Fortunately for Ryleigh and Marissa,their surgeries were completed in 4-6 hours and recoverytime was rather short. In other neurological cases, surgeryand recovery time is even quicker.8