Journey to the center of the brain.

In order to perform surgery on Jessica, Dr. Schneider modified a surgical technique to allow him to go much farther into the hypothalamus without causing injury. It was the first time he had employed it. He used an open approach where, he said, "you actually go between the right and left halves of the brain" without having to sacrifice any blood vessels on the way in. He used a stereotactic navigation technique--similar to a global positioning system--to guide him, literally, to the center of the brain. He said, "You don't have any margin for error." The navigation system makes it possible to safely perform surgery in areas that were not possible in the past.

'No news is good news.'

The day of the surgery arrived far too quickly. While Ana lay sleeping, jessica and Peter braced themselves for what they knew would be the longest four hours of their lives. Dr. Schneider came in beaming and said, "Everything's going to be great! Don't worry about it." Jessica asked if he would come down and let them know how the surgery was going. He said, "No--no news is good news." He told them, however, that if for any reason he thought he should not continue the surgery, he would stop. He said, "I have a son her age; I would never, ever do anything I wouldn't want done to my own child." He added, "I couldn't live with myself knowing that I plowed through when I knew I should have stopped." Jessica and Peter kissed their sleeping little girl goodbye, then she was wheeled away into the operating room.

The surgery was supposed to be over at 12:30 p.m. and when they hadn't heard anything, Jessica walked outside to clear her head of the ominous thoughts that were beginning to swarm. An hour later, one of her aunts went to the receptionist to ask about Ana. The receptionist said, "Oh, nobody answered when we called for that little girl. The surgery's over." Jessica asked, "What happened?" She replied, "I don't know, even Dr. Schneider came down here." She said, "He only said he was going to come down if something was wrong." The receptionist said, "Oh, I just came back from the cafeteria and Dr. Schneider's sitting down eating lunch." Jessica wasted no time and ran down the hallway toward the cafeteria, followed by all the friends and family that had gathered with them for support. She spotted Dr. Schneider sitting in the corner and ran up to him, "Is she OK?" He said, "She's perfect." Jessica jumped over the table and gave him a hug. She said, "You just gave me my baby back."

Dr. Schneider took Jessica and Peter to see their little girl. He said, "She's over here. She just looks like a rose." The minute they saw her, Jessica said, they knew she was going to be all right. The surgery was dramatically successful. Ana's seizures stopped within 24-48 hours after her surgery. Jessica was overwhelmed with gratitude. She told Dr. Schneider she wished there was something she could do for him. He told her the best thing she could do for him would be to get the word out about this kind of surgery to help other people who might benefit from it.

Ana is now fully recovered and like her old self--before the seizures began. Her mother said, "She's just--she's wonderful."