Tatianna, 7

Tatianna started becoming ill in October of 2001 at the age of 17 months. She was very irritable, not eating, and vomiting. After two months of taking her to her pediatrician we took her to Holland hospital, in January of 2002, where they gave her a CAT scan. This showed a large mass in the back of her brain. We were immediately taken by ambulance to spectrum and directly admitted to the pediatric ICU. It was discovered that she had a cancerous brain tumor. On January 7 she had surgery which was performed by Dr. Lawrence Foody. This removed 99 percent of the tumor. The operation in itself took almost twelve hours. On January 22 Tatianna had her first broviac catheter placed which was to implement the chemotherapy which was started two days later.

In February it was decided it would be beneficial for Tatianna to do a stem cell harvest in case she would need a transplant in the future. This was done after weeks of preparation with injections to boost or white blood cells. Tatianna had a total of eight rounds of chemo being eight weeks long. She had IV chemo on weeks 1, 2, and 3. Week 4 was off and week 5 was chemo that required her to stay for five days in the hospital. During these times Tatianna’s Mom would stay with her and her brother and Dad would visit every evening for dinner.

In October of 2002 Tatianna began her radiation treatments. She had 33 treatments altogether which took six weeks to complete. She was put under sedation each day before receiving her radiation. Tatianna loved going and seeing her nurses and doctors everyday at DeVos. Because of her awesome attitude she was chosen to be the “poster child” for the DeVos Children’s Hospital last December. A poster size photograph was taken of Tatianna with her favorite nurse Karen. This photograph was even presented to Helen and Richard DeVos for their 50th wedding anniversary.

In January 2003 Tatianna became ill with a viral infection. She was admitted to the hospital for twelve days in isolation with a constant IV to replenish her fluids. Two weeks after she was released she fell and severely broke her right arm which required surgery. She refused to use her right hand due to some mild nerve damage.Tatianna finally finished her last round of chemotherapy in mid April 2004. She now has MRIs and blood work done every three months to make sure the tumor does not return. She is currently undergoing physical therapy and speech therapy twice a week. She has completed her occupational therapy and can cut, string beads, and color! Tatianna is in Kindergarten this year at Hamilton Elementary School!

Update: Tatianna loves to watch Disney movies, play Princess games and dress up, her dogs and singing. She is also quite the artist. Tatianna's family does a lot of off roading in their Jeep. She likes to explore places and go sightseeing. She really looks forward to Dance Marathon and all of the events! She had so much fun last year with the Pom Pon squad. She still talks about it to her friends and family!