January 28, 2008
Girl from Cambodia with Rare Brain Tumor Receives Surgery at Wolfson Children's Hospital
Pediatric Surgical Specialists Save Her Vision and Her Life
Jacksonville, Florida, January 28, 2008 - Buntheep Chun, a 12-year-old girl from Cambodia, recently had a series of surgeries at Wolfson Children's Hospital to remove a large skull-base brain tumor that was stealing her vision and threatening her life. She was brought to the United States through the efforts of missionaries based in her country, along with the kindness of pediatric neurosurgeons and a pediatric craniofacial surgeon, Baptist Health and Wolfson.
Living at a Christian school for the disadvantaged in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Buntheep began experiencing vision problems in October 2007. A local optometrist diagnosed her with "lazy eye" and gave her glasses. Her vision continued to grow worse.
The school doctor then sent her for an MRI scan, but the only MRI machine in Cambodia was broken, so Buntheep had a CT scan with contrast. "They saw a huge tumor filling her head," says Gioia Michelotti, director of the Cambodian Christian Arts Ministry where Buntheep lives. "The doctor said, 'If you don't get her across the ocean for help right away, she may not make it at all. She is going to die.'"
Michelotti began writing letters to patrons of the school all over the world, pleading for prayer and for advice about any available medical and financial help. An elder at a church in Pensacola recommended that she contact Baptist Health in Jacksonville, which includes Northeast Florida's only pediatric referral center, Wolfson Children's Hospital. "When I was told about the severity of Buntheep's medical condition, I knew her need was great and felt Wolfson Children's Hospital could help because of our outstanding pediatric neurosurgery program," says Baptist Health President and CEO, Hugh Greene. "Wolfson has a long history of caring for local children and, at times of urgent need, for children from around the world. This is just an extension of our mission."
Greene contacted Wolfson Administrator Larry Freeman, who asked pediatric neurosurgeons Philipp Aldana, MD, and Hector James, MD, medical director of the Lucy Gooding Children's Neurosurgery Center, for their help. Drs. Aldana and James contacted pediatric craniofacial and skull-base surgeon Saswata Roy, MD, for his expertise.
Within days, on November 14, 2007, Buntheep was in Jacksonville, met at the airport by Wolfson's Kids Kare ambulance, a mobile intensive care unit, which transported her to the Children's Emergency Center. There, Dr. Aldana was waiting. "She was treated like a princess," says Michelotti.
After an MRI, Buntheep was diagnosed with a giant cell granuloma, a benign but dangerous tumor that had gotten so large that it had broken through the bones protecting the brain. "Her condition was quite serious," says Dr. Aldana. "She was blind in her right eye, her left eye vision was deteriorating, and she had a large tumor occupying the space in front of her brainstem, pushing on all of the major blood vessels to her brain and the nerves to her face. Eventually, if the tumor kept growing, she would've died."
The next day, Drs. Roy and Aldana performed minimally invasive surgery to biopsy the tumor. It was very vascular and bled profusely. They had to wait until she recovered to perform surgery again. Even so, the following day, her vision had already started to improve.
On December 6, Drs. Roy and Aldana, with assistance from Dr. James, performed a nearly 20-hour surgery on Chun. The procedure involved Drs. Aldana and Roy removing the entire forehead, the upper part of the eye sockets, base of the skull, nasal bones, and sinuses, as well as the back of the septum, to access the tumor. Dr. Aldana removed the tumor piece by piece, and toward the end, Dr. Roy reconstructed the child's face using bones of the skull as well as fascia from the leg to rebuild the base of the skull. "She looks exactly like she did before the surgery," he says.
Soon after, the young girl regained most of her vision in her left eye. "She was checked by a pediatric ophthalmologist, Dawn Duss, MD, who said Buntheep has perfect vision in her left eye," says Michelotti. "Her peripheral vision continues to improve. We are praying that her right eye will improve, too."
Buntheep was hospitalized in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Wolfson. On December 12, Buntheep required another surgery after there was a leak of cerebrospinal fluid in her cranial cavity. Dr. Aldana put in a lumbar drain which required her to lie constantly in a supine position. The drain was removed on Christmas Day, after the source of the leak had healed shut. Struggling against headaches, dizziness and nausea for many days, Buntheep was finally able to sit up in bed, then stand, and then walk.
Buntheep was released to Ronald McDonald House on January 11, 2008. She will be in the United States until March, when she will have a repeat MRI at Wolfson to check the area of surgery.
Dr. Aldana says, "I am very pleased with how well she's doing. She will function as close to normal as she can."
Both doctors say the journey to healing Buntheep was a team effort. "From the anesthesiologists to the pediatric ophthalmologist, from the nurses and other professionals, everybody pitched in to make her well," says Dr. Roy.
Seeing Buntheep's incredible recovery has been inspiring for Dr. Roy, who states, "She reminds us of how lucky we are to have the health system we have here in America. Even with all Buntheep has been through, she is the most amazing, happy person. She reminds us of how fortunate we are and all the reasons we have to be grateful."
"She's a tough little kid," agrees Michelotti. "She has a great faith in God. She's a very bright, sweet child who is gifted and talented in all the arts."
"We are so grateful to Dr. Aldana and Dr. Roy, who will forever be our heroes," she adds. "They cared for Buntheep as if she were their own child. They had her on their hearts. We are also thankful to Wolfson Children's Hospital. Their staff is skilled and compassionate to the needs of children. They are perfectly matched for this kind of work."
"We are delighted that we were able to respond to the need of this child and that she is making such outstanding progress," says Greene.
Baptist Health is a faith-based, mission-driven system comprised of Baptist Medical Center Downtown and Baptist Heart Hospital; Baptist Medical Center Beaches; Baptist Medical Center Nassau; Baptist Medical Center South; and Wolfson Children's Hospital - Jacksonville's only children's hospital. Baptist Health also includes cardiology and cardiovascular surgery services, a comprehensive cancer center, neurosciences (including Primary Stroke Centers at Baptist Downtown and Baptist South), orthopaedic institute, women's resource center, a full range of psychology and psychiatry services, outpatient facilities, urgent care services and a network of primary care physicians' offices throughout Northeast Florida. Baptist Health is the official healthcare provider for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
For more information, visit www.baptistjax.com.
The Cambodian Christian Arts Ministry is a ministry of love, rescue, evangelism and discipleship located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. CCAM's mission is to evangelize and train Cambodians for Christ through the arts, giving priority to the disadvantaged--the poor, uneducated, handicapped, abused, abandoned, and orphaned.
For more information, visit www.ccamvision.org.
Vikki Mioduszewski, APR
Medical Writer/Editor
Vikki.Mioduszewski@bmcjax.com
Phone: 904.202.5122