Hannah’s Journey
“I have seen a miracle”
In August, 2005, Darlene Coston received a call from her daughter’s third grade teacher. Her daughter, Hannah, was disrupting class.
“I thought she must have Hannah confused with another child,” said Darlene. “I had never heard anything negative about Hannah. She was always a quiet child.”
Soon thereafter, Hannah’s vision failed and she became forgetful. “She couldn’t dress herself,” said Darlene. “She forgot which way to put her pants on. Hannah was also drinking much more water and urinating frequently.
“Hannah was not acting like my little girl,” said Darlene. “I didn’t know this little person anymore. We took her to the doctor. Even though some people thought I was paranoid, I knew deep in my heart something was wrong.”
After a series of tests, a CT scan finally scan showed that Hannah had an inoperable brain tumor. Soon after, her brain swelled and she became paralyzed on one side. She wore diapers and could barely talk. Doctors also discovered she had diabetes incipidus, a condition caused by the tumor, producing more sodium than her body could process. At the time, she was eight years old.
“She would communicate with me through hand signals and strange sounds,” said Darlene. “It was scary to watch.” Hannah underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments followed by monthly blood transfusions. Gradually, she started to improve. “I would watch her cheeks and lips turn red and see her start to feel better,” said Darlene.
Today, Hannah is a ten year old at Cherrydale Elementary. She has 20-20 vision and likes to sing and dance. She also talks about her cancer journey with others. She was a guest speaker for Relay For Life and Hillcrest High School. She is happy to be alive.
“My husband had always been a big blood donor,” said Darlene. “This meant a lot more to us as we watched Hannah receive blood donations. When she sings Amazing Grace today it has such a special meaning. She once was blind, but now she can see. She couldn’t walk, talk or rollover. She was like an infant…I have seen a miracle.”
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i am an bllod donor myself and i look at this little girl and i really see the reason why i give blood and others that can give should…a cou[ple of yeara ago i had a uncle that had been having some problems he thought it wa sheart burn or just indigestion one day he and his daughter wee in walmart and the chest pains got worse so she finally talked him into going to hillcrest er when he got there they said they could find nothing well a couple of days later the chest pain was still there he got up in the middle of the night sweating and hurting real bad his daughter and her family were living with him at the time she woke up and said were you going he told her he had to go back to the hospital somwething was wrong the pain would not stop so this time he went to greenville memorial ther ethey told him and his daughter he was having a heartattack and did have one the day he went to hilcrest the doctors put him in the hospital write then and schedule a heart cath. when the surgean got in the found 8 blogges within 2 days he was having open heart surgery it hurt mr very ba di was upset and sick the whole day of the surgery but i learned the doctors would need blood for my uncle so i went write then and gave when the surgery was done the doctors told us he made it fine the one thing that made me feel greta but the next thing wa sthat the doctors told us if i ha dnot gave the blood he would not have gotten any and could have died becouse he lost so much blood then i also found out i wa dthe only mathching blood type and the only one that could or would give i thank god each day that my uncle is alive and doing the 2 thongs he loves best fishing and hunting so please when and if you can donate blood becous ethis couls be your family….