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Half of baby’s brain surgically removed to stop seizures

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A nine month old recently underwent a surgery that removed half of her brain. It’s the first time in 15 years that this procedure has been performed in Indiana. The procedure was performed at Riley Hospital for Children. 

Imagine as a parent, you are placed with a difficult decision; brain surgery that would remove half of your baby’s brain otherwise they suffer from constant seizures. That’s a decision that one father was faced with. It’s a decision he made tearfully and prayerfully but without regret. 

Baby Zahra was fast asleep in her daddy’s arms. That in and of itself is a miracle considering where she has been. From birth, Zahra suffered from a brain abnormality that caused her to have seizures. 

“Even though we were giving her all of those prescribed medications to control those seizures,” said Chuahdary Abdul, Zahra’s father. 

Before surgery, baby was having up to ten seizures an hour. Abdul tearfully explained that his daughter couldn’t eat, and was not functioning properly for a nine month old. 

“I also love her very much. I didn’t want to lose her. I didn’t want to see her in constant pain,” said Abdul.

Doctors gave Abdul and his wife one option to stop the seizing; a Hemispherectomy which would remove the right side of her brain. After talking it over together they decided to take the risk. 

Two weeks ago, Zahra went in for surgery. You can watch it here. The procedure took around fourteen hours to complete. It was seemingly a success. Riley Pediatric Neuro-Surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Raskin led the operation team. 

“The reality is, is, it’s not really as bad as having continuous seizures. Having half of your brain that is functioning normally is better than having a whole brain that functions sub-optimally,” said Dr. Raskin. 

On Tuesday, Zahra had her first checkup since surgery. In that two weeks, Abdul says she has not had a seizure and is calm and peaceful. He calls it her re-birth. 

Dr. Raskin believes she will be able to one day walk, talk and learn. To what degree, nobody knows. However, he does say there will be challenges. 

“It would be surprising if she didn’t have some left side deficits. That will manifest as maybe a brace on the ankle and she’ll be able to walk or definitely decreased use of her left hand,” he said. 

Still, as he holds his daughter, Abdul has no regrets. He had this to say to Dr. Raskin, “Thank you so much for taking care of Zahra and doing a great job for us.” Abdul continued, “We can never forget that.”

According to Riley Hospital for Children, hemispherectomy is rare with only 50 cases nationwide each year. 

Click here to watch doctors perform surgery on Zahra.