{"id":47417,"date":"2002-09-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2002-09-02T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2002\/09\/02\/british-teen-arrives-in-omaha-for-rare-brain-surgeryprocedure\/"},"modified":"2022-08-29T10:47:08","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T15:47:08","slug":"british-teen-arrives-in-omaha-for-rare-brain-surgeryprocedure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2002\/09\/02\/british-teen-arrives-in-omaha-for-rare-brain-surgeryprocedure\/","title":{"rendered":"British teen arrives in Omaha for rare brain surgery\n\nprocedure"},"content":{"rendered":"

All Americans will swallow hard and reflect next week on the first anniversary<\/p>\n

of Sept. 11. However, for a British family staying at the Lied Transplant<\/p>\n

Center, Sept. 11 will have an extra special meaning.<\/p>\n

Its quite symbolic, said Nigel Kendall, father of Katherine Kendall,<\/p>\n

an 18-year-old girl who is in Omaha to undergo a rare brain surgery procedure<\/p>\n

at UNMC\/NHS to relieve her ongoing epileptic seizures. Katherines surgery<\/p>\n

will be finished on Sept. 11.<\/p>\n

The Kendalls are hoping that Sept. 11 will mark the beginning of a better<\/p>\n

life for their family. For the past 13 years, the Kendalls have watched<\/p>\n

Katherines health deteriorate, as her epilepsy caused severe neurological<\/p>\n

and developmental problems. Prior to the onset of epilepsy, Katherine had<\/p>\n

survived acute lymphoblastic leukemia when she was one.<\/p>\n

For six years, I have been researching epilepsy, said Anna Kendall,<\/p>\n

Katherines mother. I would get up at 4 a.m. and research for about four<\/p>\n

hours, then at the end of the day, I would put in another four hours. We<\/p>\n

have 2,000 medical papers on epilepsy in our house.<\/p>\n

The result of all this research led them to Omaha and UNMC\/NHS neurosurgeon<\/p>\n

Arun-Angelo Patil, M.D. Charles Polkey, M.D., a leading British neurosurgeon<\/p>\n

at Kings College in London, told the Kendalls about Dr. Patil.<\/p>\n

He told us that theres only one surgeon in the world that can help<\/p>\n

Katherine, and hes in the United States in Omaha, Nebraska, said Nigel<\/p>\n

Kendall at a news conference held Monday afternoon in the Lied Transplant<\/p>\n

Center.<\/p>\n

Getting to Omaha posed a whole new challenge for the Kendalls. They<\/p>\n

needed to raise more than $200,000, so they turned to the public for help.<\/p>\n

Through a variety of fund-raising events and by mortgaging the home of<\/p>\n

Katherines grandmother, they were able to reach their goal.<\/p>\n

The procedure Dr. Patil will perform on Katherine is called a multiple<\/p>\n

subpial transection (MST). It involves disconnecting specific circuits<\/p>\n

in the brain that create the seizures.<\/p>\n

It is a difficult procedure, which actually involves three separate<\/p>\n

surgeries. On Wednesday, Dr. Patil will place a grid on the areas of the<\/p>\n

brain on which he will be operating. He will then perform subsequent surgeries<\/p>\n

on Sept. 6 and Sept. 11, disconnecting the faulty brain circuits on each<\/p>\n

side of Katherines brain.<\/p>\n

Dr. Patil is one of the only neurosurgeons in the world who performs<\/p>\n

the procedure on both sides of the brain. Each procedure can take up to<\/p>\n

12 hours.<\/p>\n

He (Dr. Patil) deserves a lot of credit because he persevered with<\/p>\n

this procedure that gives families hope, said Vik Prabhu, M.D., a UNMC<\/p>\n

neurosurgeon who spoke at the news conference. Its a brilliant surgery.<\/p>\n

It takes a lot of intelligent thinking.<\/p>\n

For the Kendalls, every day is a challenge with Katherine, who has about<\/p>\n

six falls daily due to the seizures. She wears a protective headgear at<\/p>\n

all times to reduce her risk of serious injury.<\/p>\n

(In her present state) Katherine has no dignity, Nigel Kendall said.<\/p>\n

Shes incontinent and cant go to the bathroom by herself. Yet, any bathroom<\/p>\n

is a dangerous area (because she can fall). Twenty percent of people with<\/p>\n

Katherines epilepsy die due to falls.<\/p>\n

Last week, Nigel Kendall injured his back while trying to contain Katherine<\/p>\n

during a serious seizure. Anna Kendall said, Were all in danger. She<\/p>\n

throws me down the stairs a couple times a week (when she tries to contain<\/p>\n

Katherine during her seizures).<\/p>\n

Even if successful, the surgery cannot reverse the neurological and<\/p>\n

developmental damage that Katherine has sustained. Rather, the best the<\/p>\n

Kendalls can hope for is an end to the constant seizures and the risk of<\/p>\n

a serious fall.<\/p>\n

Every now and then, when shes laughing and smiling, we get a glimpse<\/p>\n

(of the potential Katherine has), said Oliver Kendall, Katherines 22-year-old<\/p>\n

brother. Thats what we want to get her back to.<\/p>\n

For more information on the Kendall family, go to their Web site at<\/p>\n

www.katherineappeal.com.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All Americans will swallow hard and reflect next week on the first anniversary of Sept. 11. However, for a British family staying at the Lied Transplant Center, Sept. 11 will have an extra special meaning. Its quite symbolic, said Nigel Kendall, father of Katherine Kendall, an 18-year-old girl who is in Omaha to undergo a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","department-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nBritish teen arrives in Omaha for rare brain surgery procedure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"All Americans will swallow hard and reflect next week on the first anniversary of Sept. 11. 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