Girl With Half Brain Removed, Returns Home – Another Medical Victory

Having had half her brain removed in surgery in June, six year old Jessie Hall, returned home on Thursday after the complicated surgery, in good health.

The toddler, whose right hemisphere of the brain was eaten away by the deadly Chronic Focal Encephalitisdefine disease, was operated upon by the doctors of John Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, this June. After the operation she was shifted to the Cook's Children's Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, for the rest of her recovery.

The surgery
The operation required the neurosurgeons to remove the right hemisphere of the child’s brain. The disease not only was causing Hall to suffer from uncontrollable multiple seizures, it was also limiting the use of her left hand and was threatening to result in whole body paralysis eventually.

The recovery
The six year old who spent her first night home after the operation was sure glad to see her dog and said she wanted to grow long hair to hide the scar on her head from the surgery.

Hall spent the month after the operation in rehabilitation, at the cook’s hospital, learning to use her left hemisphere of the brain to do the things the right hemisphere does.

Although, her recovery is not complete yet and she is still suffering from hemiparesis, and has to think hard, often forgetting even very simple words; her parents are happy that she has not completely lost her memory and also that not many changes are seen in her personality also. Which means, her cognitive functions are not affected after the removal of the right hemisphere of her brain, which affects this particular aspect of thinking.

She would continue with the remaining therapy at her home itself in Aledo.

The disease
Jessie hall is among the few under 10 year olds who suffer from this rare, dangerous and complex to operate upon brain disease called - Chronic Focal Encephalitis, CFE or Rasmussen's encephalitis. This disease can affect any one hemisphere of the brain, eating into it and leading to partial/total paralysis or mental retardation.

Symptoms
Symptoms of the disease include-
• Seizures-frequent and severe
• Partial /total paralysis
• Hemiparesis
• Dementia
• Mental retardation

Cure
The disease can be cured only by surgery, which involves either the disconnection or complete removal of the affected hemisphere of the brain. Although it is a complex surgery and quite dangerous, doctors at the Hopkins hospital carry out several such surgeries each year.