An Hour For Nicole Riou

Nicole Riou has faced more challenges in her 42 years than most do in a lifetime. Just when things were starting to flow, even under the veil of Covid-19, Nicole faced her biggest challenge yet.

At the end of September 2020, Nicole answered a call from her mother and suddenly lost the ability to speak clearly. She described it as knowing what she wanted to say but being unable to articulate the words. Nicole immediately drove to the hospital where, after many tests and scans she was told there was a mass on her brain. After a subsequent MRI under the care of a neurosurgeon, she would be diagnosed with 4 meningiomas (tumours), the largest applying pressure on the area of the brain that affects fascial motor control. Nicole would also learn that these tumours were likely a result of the radiation she received as part of her treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL). This earlier diagnosis came at the tender age of 12. She would walk away from this with her health intact, contending only with newly thin hair to remind her of the battle. 

Nicole’s team of specialists advised her, due to the size of the largest tumour and its effects, surgical removal was inevitable and highly recommended. Nicole had a craniotomy with tumour resection on December 9, 2020. 

The surgery was a success and the biopsy showed a Grade 1 benign meningioma, which was the best-case scenario. Nicole had strength back in her voice immediately and was sent home after only 4 days. Her recovery was going extremely well until December 27, 2020, when she started experiencing headaches and fever-like symptoms. On January 2, 2021, she was readmitted to the U of A hospital. The first week of tests only showed a fluid-like mass on the brain where the tumor was removed but there was no indication of what had caused the infection. A second craniotomy was performed on January 9 to clean out the infectious material and test it directly. Unexpectedly, the palm-sized skull bone replaced after the first surgery was also infected and unable to be reused. Nicole’s recovery would now include wearing a helmet to protect her exposed and vulnerable wound. Nicole remained in the hospital on heavy antibiotics while the experts monitored the cultures for any sign of bacteria which eventually revealed itself and led to her discharge on January 19, 2021 

Nicole was home again, this time with a PICC line (a faster and more direct way to get the antibiotic in the system) inserted in her right arm allowing her to receive IV treatment at home for the next 6 weeks (February 23). On February 16 Nicole will have a CT scan to see if the infection has cleared. The next step will be cranioplasty, a third surgery to replace the missing skull bone, hopefully in 2-3 months.

As you can imagine Nicole, along with her amazing 11-year-old son Zeno, has a lengthy and challenging healing journey ahead. Nicole, a Registered Massage Therapist, will not be able to work for several months. She owns her own clinic - a dream come true (opened March 1, 2020), she rents her townhome and has bills to be covered. 

I named this fundraiser An Hour For Nicole because as a massage therapist, your life revolves around the “booked” hour. I am asking you to consider donating an hour of your earnings to this amazing woman so her comeback story is even more powerful than any of us can imagine. 

With gratitude, 
D-L