Life After A Pediatric Brain Tumor: Addie Kingery’s Story

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07/03/23

Addie was living a normal high schooler’s life. She had great friends, succeeded in sports and was preparing for college. In the winter of her senior year, she started getting headaches. Doctors found a tumor on her cerebellum.

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From the first time I met Dr. Jane, I felt instantly comfortable. And I feel like that's not usually what people feel when they first meet a surgeon. But I instantly felt comfortable. I felt like I was going to be well taken care of. And that hasn't changed.

One thing led to another. And I started having more and more headaches. And then it was my senior year, whenever I had localized headaches in the back of my head. And I was really dizzy, and went to the doctor again. And that's when they decided that, you know, a headache in the back of your head, that's a sign of pressure. So I had the scan, and there the tumor was.

Her tumor was in the most common location for children to have brain tumors. Most often, children present with brain tumors that are in the cerebellum. Well, at the time, amazingly, her coordination was pretty good. Her primary problem at the time really was just severe, progressive headaches. There isn't a different kind of treatment for that kind of tumor. The way that one should be treated if they have a pilocytic astrocytoma is surgery.

The day of the surgery I know that my pastor from my church came down, and some other family members and special people in my life came down. And the anesthesiologist came to explain what was going to happen, and also one of the residents.

My support system after surgery was absolutely amazing. My parents, I have no idea what I would do without them. They were there every step of the way, always so positive and supportive. They were awesome.

Addie made a tremendous recovery. She went on and, in fact, successfully did participate in college level sports. I have a very special place in my heart for Addie and her family. You know, she is obviously an inspiration to other people who are facing similar kinds of situations.