Family hopes lifelong battle versus daughter's seizures is over

Hungry Horse News

Alysha Cantu's like most other 9-year-olds. The Columbia Falls girl loves popsicles, pizza and catching grasshoppers.

In fact, if it wasn't for the two rows of stitches that run the length of her head in amongst her shaved black hair, one might not even know she had a lemon-sized portion of her brain removed three weeks ago.

Alysha suffers from febrile seizures and recently had part of her temporal lobe removed in hopes of stopping the seizures.

"We're crossing our fingers," said Alysha's mom, Lisa Cantu, of the outcome.

She said there is an 85 percent success rate with this type of surgery that Alysha won't have anymore seizures and will be able to come off medication.

Alysha takes two different medications to control the seizures and if she remains seizure-free for one year she will slowly be weaned off of the medication.

The road to surgery has been a long one for her and her family.

Alysha started having seizures when she was an infant.

Lisa said the first one lasted about 30 minutes before doctors were able to stop it.

"It lasted so long, (the doctor) said 'she'd never out grow it,'" she said.

Since then Alysha has been on eight different medications to try to stop the seizures.

Her diet has also been changed to find a pattern that might explain why she was having them.

"She'd go for two weeks without one, then have three or four in a day and then a couple weeks, again," Lisa said. "It didn't matter what we tried."

Then Alysha's doctor suggested surgery as an option.

Alysha first went to a Seattle hospital in 2003 to begin testing for the surgery. Over the next year and a half years she would be in Seattle four different times.

Doctors first had to find out where the seizures were happening and if she was a good candidate for surgery.

It wasn't until this spring after the testing, that doctors were finally able to explain why Alysha had been having the seizures.

There's no family history of seizures. Neither Lisa nor Alysha's father, Jim Cantu, have a family history of seizures.

Lisa said doctors attribute the seizures to a 105 degree fever Alysha had when she was eight months old, at the time of the first seizure.

In July, Alysha returned to the hospital for 11 days.

First, she had sensors were attached to her brain to see when there was increased activity, a sign of a seizure. During this testing, Alysha had to be strapped down to prevent her from pulling out the sensors.

Then she had the surgery to remove the portion of her brain that was causing the seizures.

A possible side effects of this type of surgery is the potential for short-term memory loss.

"We asked ourselves, 'are we doing the right thing?'" said Lisa. "But when she came out of it she was the same. Her spirit hasn't changed."

The first thing Alysha asked for after coming out of surgery was one of her favorite things: A word search.

Four days later, on her birthday, July 19, she came home.

Now at home, life isn't completely back to normal, but things are getting there.

Alysha can't swim or ride her bike until after she returns to Seattle in September for a check up.

"She can't soak or hit her head. She's a fish and she won't keep her head out of the water (when she swims)," Lisa explains. "But she doesn't mind waiting."

Right now, Alysha is recovering by eating ravioli and as many hot fudge Sundays as she can get.

She recently spent the night at a friend's house, staying up until 10 p.m.

"We got to stay up as late as we wanted," Alysha explained as her eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face.

Her hair is also starting to grow in some, but she likes it shaved.

"She wants to keep it like that, but I'm like 'how about a little longer,'" said Lisa.

Alysha convinced her dad to shave his head to match hers.

"I like the feel of it," she said as she touches her dad's head.

"I don't think mine is going to grow anymore," John said to Alysha.

"He promised he'd do it," Alysha said with a smile.

A benefit and fund-raiser for Alysha will be held Aug. 6 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Sportsman Club to help with the family's travel and other expenses.

There will be a silent auction, a pig roast and a horseshoe tournament. Cost is $8 per plate for adults and $4 per plate for children. Dinner starts at 4 p.m.

Call Lisa at 892-0792 or 250-5586 for more information. An account has also been set up at Parkside Credit Union in her name.