Toddler William Long, of East Islip, LI, is a very lucky young man. When his parents, Michael and Alexandra, share his remarkable story of illness and recovery at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, they will no doubt begin the narrative by saying, “COVID-19 actually saved your life.”
William was born on May 26, 2020. When he was only eight months old, he and his parents were diagnosed with COVID-19. Following a high fever, William suffered a seizure on February 15, 2021. His concerned parents rushed to Cohen Children’s, where he was admitted.
“You have to hand it to mother’s intuition,” said Mr. Long. “When my wife woke up that morning, she noticed William was just not himself. Seeing our son have a seizure was absolutely terrifying.”
During a five-day stay in the hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), Shaun Rodgers, MD, director of Pediatric Surgical Epilepsy, ordered that an MRI be done on William’s brain.
“Those tests revealed a lesion of the right temporal lobe,” said Dr. Rodgers. “I originally suspected that we were looking at a case of cortical dysplasia, what I refer to as a birthmark on the brain. This happens – sometimes before a child is born – when developing brain cells, or neuron, fail to reach the parts of the brain for which they are genetically targeted. All of this could have explained the seizure.”
William eventually recovered from COVID and continued to be monitored every few months by Dr. Rodgers, who also prescribed anti-seizure medication. The toddler was followed for over a year to see if the lesion would grow.
“By June of 2022, the MRI revealed that the lesion had grown,” Dr. Rodgers said. “What I originally thought was just a cortical dysplasia was more likely a low-grade brain tumor.”
William’s parents and Dr. Rodgers decided that the lesion should be removed for tumor and seizure control. In fact, the growth had developed into a complex tumor that had invaded William’s temporal lobe, including the hippocampus (site of short-term memory).
During a six-hour surgery on December 9, 2022, Dr. Rodgers removed William’s right temporal lobe, including the hippocampus which held the egg-sized tumor.
“William will definitely retain his memory and experience no long-term effects from the tumor because the hippocampus is redundant,” Dr. Rodgers explained. “This means that there is another on the left side, which is more dominant. In other words, the removal of this large area of the right side of the brain will not affect his ability to remember.”
William will continue to be monitored by Dr. Rodgers for another 10 years. Both his surgeon and parents agree that if not for COVID-19, William’s tumor might have grown into a life-altering situation.
“Had William not suffered a febrile seizure that was related to COVID, we might not have discovered his condition until the tumor grew larger and spread to other areas of the brain that rendered it inoperable,” said Dr. Rodgers. “We are probably unique in being able to say that in this case COVID was a life-saver.”
Two months to the day of his surgery, William and his parents returned to the hospital to thank the surgeon who changed the course of their lives.
“We know how tragic COVID-19 has been for so many families,” said Ms. Long. “But here we are, two months later, and our son is his happy, energetic self. We were so lucky to have had this unfold the way it did and to have had a wonderful surgeon who made this possible.”
Recent Comments