Honor Patient Name: Erin Bratton
Patient’s Diagnosis: Cavernous Hemangioma Brain Tumor
Date Diagnosed: 9/17/1998
Patient’s Age: 16
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Animal: Alligator
Favorite School Subject: Science
Favorite Sport: Tennis
Hobbies: Getting good grades, volunteering at PCH, reading medical books, and being on the PCH Children’s Advisory Board
When I grow up I want to be: a pediatric neurosurgeon at PCH.
My hero is: Dr. S David Moss, pediatric neurosurgeon at PCH
Erin’s Story:
My name is Erin Bratton and I am a cavernous hemangioma and paralysis survivor. My journey with PCH begins eleven years ago, at the age of four. When my parents and I were sent down to PCH back then it was part of Good Samaritan, to have a MRI of my brain. When we arrived at the ER there was already a team of doctors waiting to evaluate me. Hours went by and the neurologist came and told my parents the news. Erin says a “golf ball size cavernous hemangioma brain tumor and it would need to be removed. “ One week on August 24th, 1998, after a six hour surgery, the doctors could not predict the outcome of the surgery until I woke up the next day. When I woke up the next day, I was confused and completely paralyzed on my right side with no speech. The doctors couldn’t predict if my function on the right side would come back until days later. Unfortunately my function on the right side didn’t come back all the way.
After two weeks of recovery from brain surgery, I started intense occupational, physical, and speech therapy at the hospital. After a month of therapy I was still unable to walk but I was discharged from the hospital. For a year and a half I had to go back to PCH three times a week to have my therapies. After that time I regained as much as I could with therapy on my own.
In 2003, I started having regular Botox injection every three to six months to reduce my spasticity and dystonia, (as a result from my paralysis) and the treatment worked until 2009; we found out that Botox would not be my permanent solution. We were referred to go see a movement disorder specialist about alternatives to Botox, he suggested Baclofen Pump. Two months later I was admitted to PCH to see if a Baclofen Pump trial would work and it did. So Baclofen Pump reduces my spasticity. Now I still have to deal with orthopedic issues that have arrived over the past eleven years and will still have to be watched neurologically for the rest of my life. I am a happy healthy freshman going to Xavier College Preparatory and hopefully becoming a pediatric neurosurgeon one day thanks to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
What PCH Means to Me
PCH means everything to me. It is hard to explain. I have seen PCH grow from four floors at Good Samaritan to a freestanding children’s hospital and what they are planning to do. PCH has always and forever have a special place in my heart. I am not just a patient there; I am a volunteer, a Children’s Advisory Board member, and more importantly a support of the hospital. Even thought at one time PCH wasn’t my favorite place in the world, I think that what happened to me has made me realize the more important things in life. One of the most important things in my life I PCH and how grateful I am for what they have done for me. I think about that everyday.