(Posted 7:30 a.m., Sept. 30)
Orléans girl travels to Mayo Clinic in search of answers
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

Lisa Cater and her mother Debra Dowding (centre) are currently in Minnesota where Lisa is undergoing four days of testing and consultation to try and find the cause of her numerous neurological conditions. Fred Sherwin/Photo

As you are reading this article, 17-year-old Lisa Cater from Orleans is undergoing a battery of tests at the world famous Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota to try and find out what has been causing her excruciating pain for the past seven years despite undergoing eight major surgeries.

Lisa’s problems began in November, 2004 when she was experiencing severe headaches and was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The doctors were able to remove most of the tumour during the first operation, but it grew back within two months and a second operation was required.

Following the second procedure, Lisa started experiencing a number of side effects ranging from double vision to slurred speech and problems balancing. Rehab was able to reduce the side effects by 90 per cent.

The side effects were kept in check and Lisa was able to have a relatively normal life for the next two and half years. Then in the fall of 2007, the headaches, double vision and balance issues returned with a vengeance along with tremors in her hands.

Doctors performed an MRI and discovered that a pocket of fluid had built up and was putting pressure on Lisa’s brain. In order to drain the fluid they implanted a shunt. Unfortunately it didn’t resolve the problem which was further complicated by the presence of the two small nodes left over from the second brain surgery.

Lisa then had to undergo 30 radiation treatments in January 2008 in an effort to reduce the size of the nodes. Following the procedures she restarted her rehabilitation program to help alleviate the said effects. Unlike the first round of rehab, however, the sessions failed to have the desired effect.

In the spring of 2008, she underwent four surgeries over a six day period to replace the shunt which hadn’t been functioning properly. By August 2008, the headaches and double vision became more frequent and were unresponsive to the rehab. Since then the intensity of the side effects have ranged from barely tolerable to excruciating.

In February of this year, the headaches had intensified to the point were Lisa had to be rushed to the hospital. X-rays revealed that a very large cyst was pressing on her brainstem, a condition which can sometimes be fatal. Another operation ensued to remove the cyst, but the headaches, double vision and slurred speech remained.

At this point the doctors at CHEO were completely baffled to the point where Lisa was placed in a rehabilitation program for children with long term disabilities.

Refusing to give up hope, Debra and her husband started to research treatments offered in the United States, which is how they found out about the Mayo Clinic which agreed to treat Lisa after they reviewed her medical records.

The program that has been set out for Lisa includes a minimum of four and a half days of testing and consultations with a team of eight doctors.

The cost of the tests and consultations are more than US$10,000 alone, and that doesn’t include the cost of the plane tickets and hotel accommodations. Fortunately, for the Dowdings, a number of friends decided to roll up their sleeves and help raise some money.

On Sept. 20, her friend Line Morin-Smith and Liz O’Neil, co-owner of the Metamorphosis Hair Studio in the Orleans Town Centre, decided to organize a BBQ and haircut fundraiser. Thanks to a little help from businesses like Toppers Pizza, M&M Meat Shop and the Dussureault Your Independent Grocer, they managed to raise a fair chunk of money.

Other events are being planned as well including a head shaving event being planned by local paralympian Kevin Frost.

The efforts being made on their behalf are not lost on Debra and Mike Dowding. As the fundraiser was winding down, Debra took a few minutes to express her gratitude not just to her friends who organized the event, but to everyone who showed up and donated.

“The community support has been overwhelming,” said Dowding. “You hope that people will respond, but to this extent, it’s been incredible.”

As for Lisa, she did her best to keep the whole thing in perspective.

“I know I’m not supposed to get too excited, but I am,” said Lisa during a break in the fundraising event. “If they can find out what’s wrong with me that would be amazing.”

Although she can walk short distances on her own, she depends on a wheelchair to get around. Before she left for Minnesota she was going to school at St. Matthew High School where she’s in Grade 11.

She says she’s lucky to have a few close firends who help her out as well as her sister Laura who is two years older

When asked what was the worst thing about her condition, she had trouble coming up with an answer, that’s because there is nothing good about it.

“I have headaches every day. I have tremors in both my hands and double vision that’s constantly moving around. I slur my words and I have trouble with me balance,” she explains, reeling off the grocery list of symptoms.

But while living with the symptoms is a constant struggle, there are moments of joy that are often shared with her firends and family. It is those moments, however long, that make life bearable.

To say that Lisa is an extremely brave young lady is an understatement. It takes a tremendous amount of bravery to allow yourself to get your hopes up when the chance of success is completely unknown and by no means certain.

Lisa and her mother Debra have gone to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota looking for answers. That would be a tremendous first step, because answers can sometimes to lead to solutions. But a first step is just that, a first step. Subsequent steps will take subsequent visits to the Mayo Clinic, which will require additional money.

Donations can be made to assist the Dowding family at any Scotiabank branch using the account number 611760032719 under the name Lisa Cater in Trust. Donations can also be made at other financial institutions using the Institutional Code Scotiabank 002 and the Transfer Code 61176.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

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