Moot student recovering after 19-hours-long brain op

After enduring a challenging 19.5-hour-long operation to remove a brain tumour, 20-year-old Rachelle le Grange is recovering and waiting to start therapy to regain the ability to swallow properly, to smile and to move her eye, arm and fingers on her right side.

Le Grange, of the Moot, underwent the surgery on 19 February, to remove a brain tumour that had pushed her brainstem to the left side, obstructing blood vessels.

“The entire operation roughly took 13 hours longer than expected. This had a significant impact on the final hospital and doctor’s bill, but we’re very glad that she’s doing okay,” said Anieke Swanepoel, a friend of Le Grange.

Le Grange, a third-year quantity surveyor student at the University of Pretoria, got the devastating news that a tumour was growing in her brain after experiencing severe bouts of weakness, fatigue and vomiting earlier this year

“By all accounts, you would never say that I looked sick. After suspecting an ear problem, an ear, nose and throat specialist ruled out any ear problems and I was referred to a neurologist who performed an MRI. That is when a big tumour was discovered on my brain,” Le Grange told Rekord before she had the operation.

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“The reason the operation lasted so long was that the tumour contained numerous arteries and nerves. It was a very long and stressful night. Thankfully, at about 06:00 the next morning, her mother posted a photo of Rachelle in a hospital bed. The family is extremely grateful towards her neurologist, Dr M Zorio who did not leave Rachelle for one moment during her 19.5 hour surgery. We heard that he didn’t even eat, drink or visit the restroom during the entire operation,” Swanepoel said.

According to Le Grange’s family, the operation was considered a huge success and the doctor could remove most of the tumour.

“Unfortunately, saving her life came at the price of losing the ability to hear in her right ear. At the moment, the right side of her body is also no longer functioning properly. Rachelle is unable to swallow and smile correctly as the right side of her face is mostly paralysed. This also affects her ability to move and close her right eye, thereby causing double vision and cross eyes.

“In addition, she has extremely limited movement in her writing arm. For the most part, she is unable to move her fingers. The doctor is hopeful that she could regain some of the lost functionality as he was able to pick-up signals on most of the important nerves in her brain during the surgery.”

The family is concerned about the cost implications for Le Grange’s therapy as one session is around R800.

“The initial cost of the operation with the expected rehabilitation required was estimated to be around R650 000. Her family tried to raise R350 000 thereof through public funding. To date, 75% of the fundraiser target was achieved. Unfortunately, this cost estimate is severely underestimated as Rachelle spent an additional 13 hours in the operating theatre that is commonly billed per minute. As a consequence, her family will need to raise a substantially higher amount than initially anticipated to cover her operation and therapy costs.”

Le Grange is extremely positive about the future and plans on doing her honours degree next year, once she recovers from this surgery.

“Rachelle’s 21st birthday is on 7 March, and we would appreciate any help in funding Rachelle’s surgery cost,” Swanepoel said.

If you would like to help Rachelle and contribute to her medical bills, click on the link below:

https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/rachelle-le-grange

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