"A Little Girl's Brain" is the story of Mallory Moss, a Georgia girl who has battled a rare form of epilepsy for five years.   She and her family endured a medical odyssey that pushed the limits of their faith.  From hospital to hospital, specialist to specialist, they ran up against heartbreaking news that there was nothing anyone could do to help.  Then a New Jersey neurologist called them one night.  He wanted to help.  A month later, in July of 2000, Mallory underwent surgery to remove part of her brain.  It worked.  Mallory began leading a normal life, but only for about a year.  In the summer of 2001, the seizures stormed back, and Mallory again faced more surgery. <br /><br />Mallory Moss'  eyes gaze upward as she is struck by a seizure.  At its worst point, Mallory has close to 100 seizures a day.  In several days Mallory will undergo brain surgery which her doctor hopes will stop the recurring seizures. Mallory drops her favorite teddy bear and crawls into her bedroom like a baby after she is struck by a seizure attack.  Massive seizures often made it impossible for Mallory to walk. Jeff Moss listens to Dr. Walker while Mallory remains on the examination table inflating a rubber glove into a balloon. Camille Moss hugs her daughter Mallory during a ski outing on Lake Tobesofkee this past summer.   It was the end of a one-year period when Mallory was seizure-free and life returned to normal. Two dozen multicolored electrical wires snake from the back of Mallory's head as a clown visits her hospital room and gives her a red foam nose to wear.  The clown tells her that clowns have to have names.  Mallory thinks a second.  "I'm Miracle the appy Clown," she says. During a therapy session prior to surgery, Mallory discusses her fears with social worker Stacey Bergman.<br />"I'm the scared one," Mallory tells Bergman.  "They're drilling holes in my head." Mallory lays on her hospital bed with seizure-detecting wires streaming from her shaved head, which is bound in a turban of gauze. "Dear God," begins Mallory's letter to God which she writes during a therapy session prior to surgery, "I'm scared.  Please take care of me during the operation." In the operating room, surgeons mark Mallory's scalp where they plan to make incisions.  After that, surgeons drill into her skull and place seizure-detecting grids directly on the surface of her brain in hopes the grids will help pinpoint areas where her seizures start. Jeff and Camille Moss wait in the intensive care unit with their daughter Mallory following surgery where doctors carved a hole the size of a grapefruit into her skull in an attempt to quell the persistent seizures. Mallory's father, Jeff, holds Mallory's hand as they enter the hospital for tests following a recent seizure attack. After two months in the hospital, Mallory comes home.  She and her brother Jay play with their dog and life begins to return to normal. Riverside Methodist Church choir members and preacher hug Mallory during a service following her return home from the hospital.   The Moss' faith has carried them through Mallory's ordeal.  "You should thank God every day your children are healthy," says Mallory's father. Mallory sips water as she takes a round of pills.  Mallory currently takes 10 pills a day, but her doctors hope to wean her from the medicines in two years or so. Classmates Rachel Jones and Candice Sledge attempt to wake Mallory as she doses during class.  Mallory takes 10 pills a day which leave her drowsy and suppress her appetite. After spending nine months recovering from brain surgery, Mallory returns to Redding Elementary as a fifth-grader.  In the hallway, she pauses to give her brother Jay a hug. Mallory rolls marbles between her fingers during a therapy session which focuses on improving her motor-skills and dexterity.  Rolling marbles around her palm, Mallory's hand tends to twist hard to the right and reach behind her.  The therapist guides it back in front of her, but back it goes. During a rehabilitation session, Mallory counts off how many states she knows.  "California ... North California ... South California ... Chicago ... Colorado ... New York ... New Jersey ... Hackensack."  Although September's surgery has left her seizure-free, her cognitive skills remain off kilter. Mallory finishes her homework at the kitchen table.<br />After suffering with seizures for more than four years, just nine months after brain surgery, Mallory is becoming a typical fifth-grader. Mallory prays for her family and other children who will  go through brain surgery like herself before going to bed. Going for a walk after school, Jay, Mallory's younger brother, trails behind Mallory.  Jay has become Mallory's shadow, keeping watch over her.

 

--Story Pages Home--

--Editorial Home-- --Nick Oza Home

  >