Baby Serina faces next challenge in cancer battle

Serina's plight was the focus of a story in The Daily Statesman in mid-November of 2007, at which time the Goodale family was gathered around Serina's crib at Cardinal Glennon Hospital in St. Louis, hoping and praying that then eight-month-old Serina would recover from a highly delicate brain surgery to remove the tumor that threatened her young life.

Serina's mother, Leslie Goodale, only 17 herself, has faced every mother's worst nightmare as she watched her infant daughter fall victim, first to the effects of the rare tumor itself, then the invasive surgical procedure, and finally the devastating results of months of chemotherapy.

For nearly a full year, Leslie Goodale, along with her own mother, Tammy Jackman, have remained by Serina's side in St. Louis. They were told early on that Serina's treatment would be very difficult for her to endure and would necessitate a lengthy hospital stay.

"We also were told that we'd have to move within 15 minutes of the hospital during the later stages of treatment," Leslie Goodale recalls, "and with help from the Dexter community and the American Cancer Society, we've been able to stay near Fenton, which is in close proximity to the hospital."

Since November of 2007, Serina has returned to her Dexter home only twice. Most recently, they returned to Dexter for a one-week stay that her physicians granted as Serina continued to improve this summer. She had fought back from the ravages of the chemotherapy drugs and had begun the process of gaining back considerable ground that was lost over the past year.

"She has lost much of the use on her left side as a result of the tumor," says Serina's grandmother in Dexter, Carol Goodale. "But she was beginning to pull herself up to furniture and she is forming words. Things were looking so much better and all the tests indicated that she was in remission in August.

Serina was cancer-free from May through August of this year. And then came September for the little girl who has fought so hard to conquer a terribly unforgiving illness.

"One of the tests indicated that there might be problem," Leslie explains, "but the doctors told me that there was a slight chance that what they were seeing might be fluid built up following six weeks of radiation that she had, but they performed another CAT scan and found that there is another tumor in the same area that it appeared the first time."

"The doctors were as devastated at this new finding as the family was," says Carol Goodade. "They've become so attached to her."

A stunned young mother, given the news, was faced this month with having to decide between three options presented by Serina's physicians at Cardinal Glennon.

"They can do nothing and take Serina home, knowing that she will once again face the literally paralyzing effects of the cancerous tumor that would eventually take her life," Carol Goodale explains.

"Or," she continues, "they can allow her to undergo what the doctors say is an extremely aggressive chemotherapy that will have violent side effects or she can opt for another surgery to remove the tumor again."Baby Serina's young mother has decided to allow surgery to take place to remove the newly developed tumor. The procedure, expected to take from five to six hours, is scheduled for Friday morning at Cardinal Glennon once again, a place with which the Goodales have become all too familiar. Members of the family from Dexter will make the trip to St. Louis at mid-week to spend time with Serina before and after the surgery.

"The surgery will be just like before," Serina's mother says, "but the chemotherapy that she'll be given after this surgery will be a different type. It's stronger and the doctors say it will provide a better chance that the tumor will not return."

The tumor, Leslie says, measures two centimeters, as opposed to the first tumor that measured eight centimeters and Serina's mother looks at that as a positive thing.

"It's so small that it has not placed any pressure on the brain like it did before," she says.

The Goodale family expresses their thanks to a caring community and asks for prayers to sustain them through yet another challenging time for Serina. Through their initial experience last November, the Goodales were aided financially through a fund that was established at a local banking facility. Scheduling around her time spent at the hospital and at home with Serina, Leslie Goodale has worked at a hotel near her home-away-from-home in order to support their stay near the hospital. Anyone considering assisting the family in this most recent plight is asked to email them at goodale_leslie@yahoo.com.