Liza Burke and loved ones.Photo: Go Fund Me
After having abrain hemorrhage while on a spring break trip to Mexicolast month, Liza Burke, a senior at the University of Georgia, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Now, as her mother continues to hope for her daughter’s recovery, she’s marking a month since the difficult “saga” began.
In an update shared on aGoFundMe pageset up to help cover medical costs, Laura McKeithen reflected on how everything changed one day while her daughter was “eating breakfast with friends in Cabo San Lucas.”
After suddenly falling ill, her mother said that “Liza’s boyfriend discovered her unconscious after she lied down for a nap.”
That morning, Burke had woken up with a headache that bothered her throughout breakfast, family friend Jennifer Ritter wrote in an earlier message on the fundraising page.
Liza Burke.GoFundMe
After being taken to a local hospital, she was initially diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation (AVM).
However, doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Florida, where she is currently receiving treatment, later determined that she actually had a “brain tumor located near her brain stem,” Ritter wrote in an update on Mar. 24.
In the same update, Laura shared that doctors believe her daughter’s cancer was likely dormant “for many years before it became aggressive in a very short time.”
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As Liza’s mother reflected on all they’ve been through since that day in Mexico, she wrote that “the last month has been nothing short of a nightmare, a roller coaster and a love story all rolled up into one.”
“We give thanks that Liza has survived despite the odds. She’s been transported to Mayo in spite of the many obstacles. She survived a risky brain biopsy which thankfully yielded much better results than expected,” her mother wrote in Tuesday’s message.
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“They know she has a tumor, it’s called a grade 4 Glioma. It’s right on her brain stem. Your brain stem is where everything happens and as a result, that’s why she is not waking up,” McKeithen told the outlet.
Still, she said her daughter can still communicate and has been able to squeeze her hand,Good Morning Americapreviously reported.
As her daughter begins her third week of daily radiation, her mother asks for continued prayers.
“Please pray that our beautiful sleeping warrior is working alongside God, the Universe and her sister, Edie, to quietly guide its ray to shrink the tumor,” she wrote in Tuesday’s update, referencing her daughter’s late sister, who died in 2008.
“Pray that Hope continues to rain on all of us and shower Liza with strength, blessings and miracles,” she added. “Thank you for sharing this journey with us.”
source: people.com
