It was less than a year ago, June 24, 2024, when 2-year-old Ryleigh Budde’s mother, father and grandmother noticed that the little girl was having symptoms that would scare any parent or grandparent.
“I knew something was wrong,” her mother, Heather Budde, said. “She had stopped walking and talking. I thought maybe she had had a stroke because her whole left side had stopped working.”
That day, Ryleigh was admitted to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt with a life-changing diagnosis.
Heather Budde credits the collaborative efforts of multidisciplinary teams at Monroe Carell with saving her daughter’s life.
Ryleigh, now 3, was diagnosed with a low-grade glioma after a biopsy. She underwent six weeks of daily radiation therapy to shrink the mass.
A rare diagnosis, a personal plan of treatment
“Brain tumors are rare in children, and tumors in the brain stem are more rare, accounting for less than 5% of all brain tumors across all age groups”, said Leo Luo, MD, assistant professor of Radiation Oncology.
“Due to the tumor’s location in the brain stem, a complete surgical resection was not feasible,” he said. “We discussed her case at our multidisciplinary tumor board with input from multiple medical specialties and decided to recommend radiation therapy.”
The specialists were from pediatric neuro-oncology, radiation oncology, pediatric neurosurgery, pathology and pediatric radiology.
“Only a small fraction of children with brain tumors receive radiation only,” Luo added.
Luo worked with medical physicists and dosimetrists to devise a personalized radiation plan to target Ryleigh’s tumor using an advanced radiation technique called intensity-modulated radiation therapy to spare parts of the brain responsible for critical functions like hearing and hormone regulation.
Every radiation treatment was a highly coordinated effort by radiation therapists, pediatric anesthesiologists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, as well as radiation and pediatric acute care unit nurses.
“We couldn’t be more thankful”
Ryleigh’s radiation treatment was completed in August 2024. In October, MRI scans showed a significant decrease in the size of the tumor.
As a result of the collaborative effort, Ryleigh has almost completely recovered her motor skills, like running and climbing, and has regained her speech, said Luo.
“We will closely monitor her and her response to radiation,” said Luo. “Based on the type of tumor and her positive response to radiation therapy, her outlook is very good. Without radiation, the tumor would have grown and caused more neurological deficits.”
Heather Budde is forever grateful for the care her daughter received.
“No one ever wants to go to a hospital,” said Budde. “But when we go back, we really look forward to seeing all the staff. We developed relationships. We couldn’t be more thankful for them all, even the nice people who hand out the visitor stickers.
“Vanderbilt saved Ryleigh. She is completely recovered,” said Budde. “My child is a miracle, and it wouldn’t have happened without that team of doctors and the staff.”
