From the beginning:

Anyone who knows Kayla, knows that she is a bright, energetic and very kind 7 1/2 year old little girl.  Everywhere she goes, people are drawn to her and constantly tell us how kind she is.

Kayla started the second grade in September.  Shortly after that, so did her headaches. At first her headaches weren't frequent, and she was a trooper. Throughout August and September, Kayla had a blast playing on her soccer team for the 2nd year. "The Angry Birds" Her Daddy was so happy to be a coach.

However, in mid October the headaches were persistent, and Kayla became more symptomatic. She was experiencing migraines which induced nausea and vomiting. She began to be sent home from school frequently. I knew that something wasn't "right" and that this was not normal for her. Her pediatrician agreed and decided to run some tests. All of kayla's blood work came back normal. Next step was to see a neurological specialist.

Tuesday afternoon, Kayla was examined by a neurologist, Dr. Cokgor. Her initial exam seemed normal. Naturally, she suggested that the next step was doing an MRI of her brain. We honestly didn't expect there to be anything abnormal.

Yesterday, Friday November 11/11/11 was a very different day than was planned. Ironically it was Veterans Day and the kids were both out of school. Therefore, fun plans were made to see Puss and Boots with family, after Kayla's MRI. The MRI itself went well! Kayla did awesome! She was really nervous about having it done, but was so strong and brave. She laid perfectly still. I didn't leave her side. She did amazingly well, however the news that followed was not.

The MRI revealed a Tumor, in the lower lope of Kayla's brain. The exact location where she had been pointing to during her headaches. The positive things are there are no "fingers" noted on the MRI that they an see. It is smooth, and small, however surgery is required to remove it.

Kayla is in good spirits, although still symptomatic. She threw up again last night, and she is aware something is wrong. We have elected not to share with her yet, exactly what next week holds. We are still trying to grasp ourselves this is reality, and we have only a few days to prepare that our baby girl is having brain surgery at UCSF.

Her surgeon is the best.  He is head of pediatric neuorosurgery. You can research him at this link:

http://neurosurgery.ucsf.edu/index.php/about_us_faculty_gupta.html

We don't have many details yet. But what we do know is the surgery will be early this week. Monday hopefully we will meet Dr. Gupta and understand more. The hospital received the referral and is making arrangements. 


Kayla will be at UCSF in their pediatric department.  This is the absolutely the best place for her to be. We know she will be in GREAT hands. Right now, we are focusing on spending time as a family, preparing a "fun kit" for Kayla to include art supplies and books she enjoys. And mostly, trying to "take in" all that has transpired over the last 24 hours.

We are also waiting till the appropriate time to share the news with Kayla in the most gentle, possible way. All the while, trying to accept for ourselves what lies ahead for us this week.

Thank you all for your loving and supportive comments, as well as the prayers. And above all else, thank you for being there for us during this time of challenge. 

Please refer to this blog for frequent updates, and feel free to leave comments. We will update this blog on the upcoming surgery details, hospital stay and Kayla's recovery. We will also use this site to reach out if there is anything we can think of that we might need. We are so grateful for all of the emails, texts and calls asking for ways to help. 

Please feel free to subscribe to this blog and pass it on to anyone we may have left off the list or that you think might be of good, strong, POSITIVE support. We feel that the more good energy that is out there, the better.


http://kaylarose415.blogspot.com/

We can't thank you enough for all of your support and prayers. They mean the world to us and keep us strong at such a difficult time. 

- Annie