Support Alanna’s Recovery ❤️‍

❤️❤️❤️Here is Alanna's story so far ❤️❤️❤️

On the 27th of April 2021 Alanna had a life changing experience. She came home from school early having been picked up by her mother because she was feeling unwell with a headache and vomiting. When Alanna got home she went in to the bathroom getting sick and collapsed with a seizure. Alanna’s mother and brother called 999 for an ambulance and two neighbours that are first responders came to the house to assist with keeping her in the recovery position until the ambulance team arrived.

The ambulance came quickly to the house and the paramedic quickly identified that Alanna was experiencing a neurological problem. The paramedic said if there is a helicopter nearby I am going to have her air lifted to Temple Street Children’s Hospital or I will drive her there. Thankfully, a helicopter was near by and Alanna was air lifted with her mother to Temple Street Children’s Hospital.

Alanna was non-responsive in accident and emergency for five hours, Temple Street had confirmed that there was something on the left lobe of her brain and that was what had caused the seizure earlier in the day. Plans were being made to send Alanna to intensive care unit when she just sat up and started talking to the staff. Alanna’s mother was outside the room and the staff came and got her and told her Alanna was up talking. Her mother went straight in to see her and Alanna was in great form complaining that someone had taken off one of her nails that she had just had done and that her clothes where cut off.

The next day a number of tests were done and it was confirmed that Alanna had a 3cm wide by 1cm deep brain tumour and would need a craniotomy. The surgeon planned how to do the surgery so that it was safe for Alanna and she would not have serious side effects from the surgery. Where Alanna’s tumour was should have affected her speech and ability to communicate but because Alanna is left-handed her speech developed in the other side of the brain and Alanna’s communication abilities were not affected.

On the 2nd of May 2021 Alanna had an eight and half hour surgery to remove the tumour. The majority of the tumour was removed and the surgery was considered a success. Alanna went in to surgery at 8:00am and got out of ICU and back to the ward at 10:00pm that night. Alanna had no side effects from the surgery and was walking and eating the next morning. A small bit of the tumour remained because healthy tissue had mixed with dead tissue. On the 11th of May Alanna’s parents were called to Temple Street with Alanna and told that her tumour was a primary malignant glioblastoma tumour and was grade four. The medical team had a treatment plan in place to aggressively tackle the tumour.

Alanna was prescribed thirty treatments of radiotherapy. This was prescribed at the start of the cyber attacks on the HSE and Alanna was without a hospital for five days because all hospitals were down. The medical team made a spot for Alanna in the adult ward of St. Lukes at St. James. Alanna and her mother commuted up and down from Offaly to Dublin for the first couple of weeks until she became so unwell she could no longer tolerate the travel. Alanna’s mother made arrangements for her and Alanna to stay in Dublin for the remainder of her treatment.

Because Alanna was so unwell she was sent to Temple Street for a scan to make sure everything was okay. The scan showed that there was fluid build up which is a common complication of brain surgery and the treatment for this is a shunt placed in the brain. Due to the severity of Alanna’s condition the medical team felt it was best to try and let Alanna finish radiotherapy and then put the shunt in. Alanna did her best but two weeks later she was so sick that an emergency shunt was put in on the 21st of June 2021 and she was in hospital for five days and unable to attend treatment.

When Alanna went back to radiotherapy she continued to be very unwell and on her 16th birthday she went for radiotherapy in St. Lukes, St. James, was then sent to Temple Street Children’s Hospital for an MRI and then admitted to Crumlin hospital due to severe pain and dehydration where she stayed for five days and continued to attend her radiotherapy treatment.

Alanna finished her radiotherapy but became violently ill from week three of radiotherapy. She was put in St. John’s Ward in Crumlin. She had a seizure three weeks later was sent to Temple Street ICU. A full body MRI was done and the cancer has spread throughout her spine. There is no treatment or cure. Her mother has left her job to care for her full time and spent all of her savings on things needed for Alanna’s care.

The funds being raised by this gofundme are going to Alanna's mother Lael Siewerth formerly Lael Lenehan by marriage in order for her to continue Alanna's care which she is receiving in her own home.