Christina's Journey

On February 22, 2019, Christina was diagnosed with Rasmussen's encephalitis (RE), a rare autoimmune condition that causes the body to attack its own healthy brain cells, resulting in frequent, intractable seizures as well as progressive physical and cognitive decline. On June 27, 2019, she underwent a left hemispherectomy (disconnection/removal of the left side of her brain) to address this condition. On November 5, 2019, she had a shunt placed after developing hydrocephalus. This is the story of Christina's RE diagnosis and her first year post-hemispherectomy.