Jessie Hall takes big step toward recovery from brain surgery, returns to Aledo home

FORT WORTH – Jessie Hall's walk is a little stilted, though spirited.

Jessie Hall's progress is 'a miracle,'' said her dad, Cris (left). Half of Jessie's brain was removed after she was diagnosed with Rasmussen's encephalitis. "

"Jessie Hall's progress is 'a miracle,'' said her dad, Cris (left). Half of Jessie's brain was removed after she was diagnosed with Rasmussen's encephalitis.

She smiles as she teeters and straightens her gait as she lets go of her father's hand and walks without assistance.

Not bad for a 6-year-old who has had half her brain surgically removed.

"It's amazing," her father, Cris Hall, said Thursday. "There's no memory loss. She's the same Jessie all the way."

Jessie was diagnosed last year with Rasmussen's encephalitis, a rare disease that eats at the brain and induces seizures. The sometimes fatal disease is common in children younger than 10.

Two months ago, doctors at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore performed the risky hemispherectomy.

Last month, Jessie was brought to Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth where she had to learn to walk again.

On Thursday, she was finally allowed to return to her Aledo home, after a brief celebration at the hospital.

She left the hospital decked out in pink, her favorite color.

"I miss my dog," she said in the hospital's lobby surrounded by family, doctors and other hospital workers.

"They've been nice and stuff," she said of the hospital staff. "My therapist's name is Amber, and we do activities. Amber rocks."

Jessie is anxiously waiting for her hair to grow back and cover the scar on the front of her head.
A year ago, the bright, funny kindergartner began having seizures. They increased in intensity and frequency, her parents said.

"It's been incredibly frightening," Mr. Hall said. "When we started on this journey, there weren't a lot of families that have gone through this."

After months of consultations and research, he and his wife, Kristi Hall, agreed to the risky surgery, convinced it would stop the seizures and give Jessie a chance at a normal life.

The decision, he said, was the correct one.

He called Jessie's progress "a miracle of medicine and God."

Jessie is not only walking; she is laughing, joking and talking in complete sentences – just as she did before, her mother said.

"She's well on her way," Mrs. Hall said. "Everything is healing up nicely."

The spunky youngster has won the hearts of many since she began her courageous battle, and friends and supporters plan to throw her a big welcome home party next week. Many in their hometown have sponsored fundraisers to assist the family with medical expenses.

The Halls said they were so moved by the outpouring, they established a scholarship for other children who have had hemispherectomies. For more information, contact the Jessie Hall Hemispherectomy Scholarship, P.O. Box, 1239, Aledo, TX 76008 or e-mail scholar ship@hemifoundation.org.

In the meantime, Jessie is looking forward to putting some normalcy back in her life, including a return to Stuard Elementary School where she is enrolled in first grade.

"Every day is a miracle," Mrs. Hall said. "The biggest miracle for me is she's not twitching anymore."