Crystal Wolshin, a 15-year-old athletic honor student at Kapaa High School, loves to surf, swim, surf the Internet and socialize. Wolshin plans to attend college, and may want to be an attorney. Her whole life is ahead of her. But
Crystal Wolshin, a 15-year-old athletic honor student at Kapaa High School, loves to surf, swim, surf the Internet and socialize.
Wolshin plans to attend college, and may want to be an attorney. Her whole life is ahead of her.
But April 10 has put her plans in doubt n at least for now.
Wolshin has swum competitively in high school, and following a vigorous swim at the Louie Gonsalves Pool in Kapaa on April 10, she went home and suffered a seizure.
Surgery at Queen’s Medical Center on Oahu on April 14 resulted in the successful removal of 80 percent of a brain tumor. But 20 percent of it has remained, and that has placed the Kapaa girl in a dilemma.
Because that 20 percent has been of unknown makeup, top neurological specialists in the United States have recommended no surgery or any other treatment at this time, due to the risks to Wolshin’s life.
But if no surgery is done, and the remaining tumor changes form, it could become cancerous.
Wolshin and her family said they have been consulted by doctors, and they are taking one step at a time in pursing options to solve the medical riddle facing Wolshin.
Family members said they will wait to see what the remaining tumor does, and if it becomes a threat to Wolshin, surgery will be called for immediately.
Family members say girl still leads a normal life. She is just as talkative, upbeat and inquisitive as she was before the first surgery.
The family is planning a fundraiser at Kilohana on Aug. 16. to defray the cost of the first surgery, which cost $100,000-plus. Eighty percent of the medical costs were covered by insurance.
Other funds raised could be used for future surgeries for Wolshin, if they are needed.
Two years prior to the April 14 seizure, Wolshin had been getting weekly headaches after vigorous swim workouts. But the headaches usually subsided quickly and no medication was required.
The only symptom she experienced in the past two years was an occasional tremor of her left hand, which medical personnel attributed to putting weight on.
Wolshin remembered having a bad headache and feeling nausea after the swim on April 10, after which she went home and laid down.
Wolshin recalled she awoke with four paramedics standing over her, quizzing her about her health.
Her mother, Rhonda Borntrager, said she saw her daughter convulsing “radically” and called 911 for help.
Wolshin said she could not believe she had suffered a seizure and rejected recommendations to go to Wilcox Hospital for treatment. “I was so aware. I felt like I had just woken up. I didn’t recall going through a seizure.”
At Wilcox Hospital, a CAT scan verified a tumor, a finding that befuddled Wolshin and her family because no one in their family had ever developed a brain tumor, said Wolshin’s grandmother, Wanda Williams.
Williams said she broke down and “cried” when her daughter, Rhonda, called her in her hometown of Marion, Ind., about her granddaughter’s condition.
The news hit her hard, Williams said, because her husband of 50 years, Robert, died from an attack in September, 2002. The thought of losing another family member seemed too harsh to bear, Williams said.
Williams said Wolshin is one of eight grandchildren, and she has loved them all. “But she (Crystal) is my angel,” Williams said.
Williams flew to Kauai recently to care for Wolshin, while Borntrager returned to work at Pahio Resorts at the Kauai Beach Villas at Nukolii.
Following her initial treatment at Wilcox, Wolshin went to Queen’s Medical Center, where an MRI confirmed the finding of the tumor, and doctors recommended its removal as soon as possible.
Wolshin knew of the seriousness of her condition, but still wanted to attend her school prom. She was allowed to do so after getting approval from her doctor.
The girl returned to Oahu and her doctor, Dr. Michon Morita, a specialist in neurological surgery at Queen’s Medical Center, used an “intraoperative image-guided surgery system to remove about 80 percent of the tumor.
The specialist was able to remove a calcified portion of the brain, but had difficulty differentiating the remaining tumor from normal brain tissue, hence halting the surgery.
A pathologist was unable to make a definite diagnosis. Samples were sent to the Mayo Clinic, but no classification of the tumor could be made.
Family members said the doctor told them that it might be necessary for Wolshin to go through more surgery to remove all of the tumor.
Morita said that if he were to perform it or them, Wolshin would be ahead of the game in this way:
With most of the tumor already removed, there would be less shifting of the brain and sagging done during following operations, suggesting most, if not all, of the remaining tumor could be removed.
Morita said, however, there was still the possibility of leaving some of the tumor behind.
The doctor also pointed out that one of the limitations of using the image-guided surgery system was that he had no “real-time” updating of images as the surgery was done.
Morita recommended an alternative: Use of intraoperative MRI scanning units for forthcoming surgeries.
The doctor contacted a neurological specialist at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center for advice. He had planned to send Wolshin’s MRI scans to UCSF for an evaluation, to see whether she would be a good candidate for surgery using intraoperative MRI scanning.
On the advice of all the doctors studying Wolshin’s case, the Wolshin family has sought a third opinion from neurological specialists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The word from all the doctors has been to wait, and to only pursue surgery if the remaining tumor poses a threat to Wolshin’s health and life, said her mother.
The family commended Morita “for not rushing into it ( a decision on what to do)” and checking all options.
“Dr. Morita was excellent, as were all the doctors,” Borntrager said. “When you have a child’s life at stake, you have to make the right decision.”
The best solution is not to do anything, for everybody to keep their fingers cross for her daughter, Borntrager said.
“We are on-call,” Borntrager said. “The next step is heavy.”
If immediate surgery is required, Borntrager said she is confident that the latest technology will be brought to bear to kill the residual tumor.
In the meantime, the family has been told to constantly monitor Wolshin’s condition.
“The doctors at UC (Medical Center in San Francisco) told us to get an MRI every six weeks,” Borntrager said.
Borntrager said her daughter has had “six left hand tremors” since the surgery, a signal of the presence of a building seizure, and has kept medication on hand to administer to Wolshin.
“It stays with me always, because it will help save my daughter’s life,” Borntrager said.
Kapaa High School officials have helped ease the ordeal for Wolshin and her family by allowing her to be home schooled.
“A lot of people have shown their care and have voiced their hope for Crystal,” Borntrager said. “We have a lot of prayers for her.”
Wolshin said she is taking each day as it comes. After she graduates from high school in two years. Wolshin said she plans to go to college on the West Coast or East Coast because she loves the water.
Wolshin said she grew up surfing in Hanalei Bay and elsewhere off Kauai and went to beaches with her father, Steve “Fur Cat” Wolshin, and has always wanted to be close to the ocean.
Wolshin said she has recognized the grave state of her condition, but she said she is young and optimistic about her chances of beating the tumor. “I want to live my life,” she said.
The fundraiser for Wolshin will include a spaghetti dinner, music, a raffle and a silent auction. Tickets for adults run $10 and tickets for those 16 years and younger are $5.
Raffle and fundraising tickets are for sale at Kai Kane, Progressive Expressions Tire Warehouse, Photo Spectrum, Larry’s Music, Garden Island Properties and Hair Cuts in Waimea.
Donations can be deposited in the “Funds for Crystal” account at any First Hawaiian Bank branch.
Members of the Funds for Crystal are Lorraine Wichman at 651-7866, Cindy Seeley at 822-1410, Lehua Ornellas at 245-8841 and Jennifer Ridello at 822-2125. Those interested can also contact Borntrager at 822-1066.
