Queen of the Clinic

This is Julia, and yes, she is also one of our patients.  You couldn’t tell it by looking at this picture, but Julia had a medulloblastoma.  We met Julia when she was only two years old, having come to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for treatment that would involve surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.  Julia’s parents allowed us to enroll her on an important clinical trial designed to reduce the toxicities of treating brain tumors in children this young. 

From the very first visit, Julia let us know exactly who was in charge.  If you happened to be on Julia’s good list, you were in for a treat - a hug, a kiss, and if you were lucky she’d also bat her eyelashes at you.  Julia tolerated a little more than a year of very involved therapy.  At times she would require weekly trips to the operating room so that we could instill chemotherapy directly into the fluid around her brain and spinal cord.