Christina Santhouse had developed a rare neurological disease called Rasmussen’s encephalitis.
At its worst, she was suffering as many as 150 seizures a day.
Medication was not enough.
So surgeons performed a hemispherectomy and removed her entire right cerebral hemisphere.
The operation saved her from the constant seizures, but it came with permanent consequences.
Christina lost much of the movement on the left side of her body.
She had no functional use of her left hand, needed a brace to walk and lost part of her vision.
But she refused to let that define the rest of her life.
She learned to drive.
She earned a university degree.
Then she earned a master’s degree in speech pathology.
She built a career helping children as a speech therapist.
She bought her own home.
And she got married.
At 8 years old, doctors removed half of her brain to save her life.
What she built with the half that remained is extraordinary.
