Tal's Story

Tal came into our lives on June 10, 2003. She arrived twenty seven minutes behind her twin brother Noam and two and a half years behind her older brother Amir. After a relatively normal, if somewhat precocious three years, during the summer of 2006 she began having spells in which she would throw up repeatedly for several days and then seemingly recover as any child would from a simple virus. However, in late October 2006, not only was she throwing up, she also was extremely lethargic. She was taken to North York General Hospital, where she was initially diagnosed as suffering from dehydration and was given intravenous fluids. Tal’s condition continued to worsen at night and eventually she was rushed by ambulance to The Hospital for Sick Children. At Sick Kids, a CT scan quickly determined that she had a large mass in her brain. This devastating news became our new reality. Our Tali had a brain tumour.

A subsequent MRI scan revealed to the surgical team at Sick Kids that the mass was quite large and needed to be removed. The tumour was preventing the normal draining of cerebral fluid in Tal’s brain. Five days after Tal arrived at Sick Kids she underwent surgery to remove the tumour. The surgery, performed by Dr. Rutka and his neurosurgery team, lasted about four hours and went extremely well. To our amazement, Tal was already singing her ABC’s in the recovery room and we were relieved to know that she showed no signs of any brain damage.

A biopsy revealed that Tali had a tumour known as ATRT (atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumour), an extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer.

Tal is currently undergoing a program of treatment that consists of three months of strong chemotherapy followed by three months of extremely intense chemotherapy, during which time she must remain in complete isolation due to the fact that her immune system will be severely compromised.

Tal has shown an amazing resilience and a fiery spirit in defiance of the situation she must now face. She is very proud of her huge number of bravery beads, each of which represents a procedure or test she has faced with strength and courage. She has our endless love and support as well as that of her brothers, our families and our most amazing friends. We are all one with Tali in her fight, and we will make it through this journey together.

Kim and Ori