Ester's Story

Could you imagine having your 8 year old daughter's life completely chance in an instant, causing a shift in your life in an instant? Please read Ester's story and consider donating. My dear friends remain humble and ask for nothing, but I ask that you consider helping.

Ester is a 10yo little girl loves to dance, paint, and create highly dramatic situations for her Barbies to play out. She used to love playing with friends at school, playing about on swings and playgrounds with her family or friends, swimming, and learning to ride her bike. But this last year, just after Christmas, so much changed. She began to just go blank for several seconds and she also began to have full-body seizures. Words began to be harder to remember as did events earlier in the day and memories of life events were harder to recall. School had always been challenging but now seemed impossible as her mind seemed intent on sabotaging her. The seizures became more and more often to the point where she could not play at recess due to injuries from falls and then not go at all as the seizures were now occurring several times a day. Playing at the park playground with friends, bike riding, dance practice, and normal swimming pool experiences were no longer safe. She now has to be with someone at all times, know which parts of the house are safe to fall down in and which are not, cannot bathe by herself, and has to be right next to a family member when outside. Ester was recently discovered to have a birth defect of her brain (polymicrogyria or PMG) that began to have greater impacts on her as she was growing up.

PMG is the name given for there being too many wrinkles that are too small on a section of the brain. This leads to neurons misfiring and short circuits, causing seizures. The part of the brain her PMG covers is the part that governs language, memory, and coordination and so these are also being affected. Her PMG is symmetrical, affecting the same area on both sides of the brain. EEGs have indicated that her brain patterns are now always on the edge of a seizure.

Her local neurologists have tried antiseizure medications which do help some, but not very well, and her doctors have decided they can’t adequately treat Ester and recently referred her to Stanford University’s child neurology unit, which is highly regarded. Finding effective treatment of this rare birth defect has been a long process. And since symptoms only just started with the brain chemistry changes brought about by adolescence and she is still only 10, it is impossible to predict how the symptoms will progress and the process of finding better treatments will be long as well.  We don’t know to what extent and how her symptoms will change over the years, but we are hopeful that with more expert treatment Ester’s symptoms can be managed better and allow her to live a fuller life.

While thankful for the blessing of being in driving distance of these highly skilled doctors, her parents need to take days off from work and scrounge up gas money for the 8 hour round trip drive and find care for their aging parents who live with them. As friends of Ester, we are asking for people to give to help her parents absorb these costs.

The Halls would like to add that they know times are tough for many and there are other needs in this world you can give to. We accept the love of all friends in whatever form it may be in the spirit in which it is offered. We know the power of prayer and if you could breathe a prayer for Ester that’s help too.