The south-west NSW community is rallying around eight-year-old Hannah Rhook who was placed in an induced coma after suffering a stroke just over two weeks ago.
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On Tuesday, Hannah underwent a craniotomy to remove part of the bone from her skull to give her swollen brain more room.
Her parents, Cassie and Matthew, from Hamilton, said they had been overwhelmed by the community support with many donating money to help with the cost of living in Melbourne, and her friend Lauren has been delivering meals.
On March 5, Hannah was taken to Hamilton Hospital, Victoria, because she was vomiting uncontrollably. They placed her on a drip and tried to stop the vomiting without success.
Almost 24 hours later, Hannah had the first of three seizures and was taken to Warrnambool hospital for a CT scan. “The paediatric specialist came back and told us that she’d had a stroke. They said there was a clot that had bled,” Mrs Rhook said.
Hannah was placed in an induced coma and flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital where a neurosurgeon put in an external ventricular drain to remove fluid to give her swollen brain extra room.
Extensive testing has failed to find a cause for the blood clot. “They have told us we many never know what caused it,” Mrs Rhook said.
An MRI on Monday revealed the swelling was getting worse and that’s when they decided to perform the craniotomy. Mrs Rhook said that once Hannah’s condition had improved, the bone would be put back in, but that could take weeks or months.
“Her brain pressure is not as good as they would like, there is a lot of trauma in there and, because it’s such an unknown thing, they said there’s no real rule book as to what should be happening,” Mrs Rhook said.
The part of Hannah’s brain that controls the left side of her body has been damaged but neurosurgeons believe that as long as her condition doesn’t worsen, the right-hand side of the brain will take over. “At the moment we still have hope of a full recovery,” she said. But that would take at least six months.
Hannah’s parents and siblings Jacob, 12, and Amy, 11, are staying in Melbourne, and friends have set up a NAB bank account for those who would like to help - BSB: 083 663, account: 8783 55125.
