One of our amazing coworkers recently had their 16 year old daughter, Ariel, diagnosed with a very rare childhood brain tumor called Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma (JPA).

Initially, Ariel was complaining of headaches and said it felt like her brain was smashing in her skull. They took her to the hospital where they found out she had Hydrocephalus (fluid build up on the brain). She was immediately transferred to Stollery where she had her first surgery to remove the fluid on April 26th.

She had 6 weeks of recovery then afterwards, had a follow up MRI. This showed the tumor was growing fast and needed to be removed ASAP. On July 9th she had a 10 hr surgery to remove the tumor and thankfully, the Brodie family is happy to report her memories and speech have not been affected by this. However, there have been some complications and Ariel is experiencing trouble with her vision which ultimately is affecting her walking and balance. The doctor explained it could take up to 6 month to regain 90% of vision back.

As a result Trent and Wanda have had to take time off work and have occurred many unexpected expenses (gas, parking, food, etc., all while still paying for day to day living expenses). Although Ariel is recovering well, she is sad that she's lost almost 70% of her hair due to these surgeries. So not only will this money be going to help out Trent and Wanda but it will also be going towards a new wig and extensions down the road for Ariel.