Working hard for everything

Last summer, Anne VanAbbema had a disturbing experience while visiting her mother in Germany. “I had this weird déjÀ vu,” she said. “I felt disconnected from my body.” When she returned home she had several additional episodes. She shrugged it off and didn’t tell anyone, but she was worried.

“I was laying in bed one day, praying about it,” she said. VanAbbema felt like God spoke to her. “He told me I had a brain tumor.” The enormity of her situation overwhelmed her. An unhappy family circumstance resulted in VanAbbema living on her own at age 17. Her mother lived in Germany, her father in Missouri. “I felt like I’d already gone through so much,” she said.

She finally told a teacher about her strange symptoms, and the teacher encouraged her to see a doctor immediately. An MRI revealed what VanAbbema already knew.

Her father arrived in Spokane a few days after her diagnosis. “I flew into his arms and just sobbed,” she said. Surgery was scheduled for Dec. 28 at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

For VanAbbema, the one happy part of her ordeal was that her mother was able to come from Germany. “I got to spend Christmas with my mom,” she said. It was only the fourth Christmas the two had spent together. “I had so much fun. I finally got to introduce her to my friends. It was the best Christmas gift!”

Both parents and her older brother traveled to Seattle with her for the surgery. She said, “I was so scared and sad. But I felt the Lord’s presence.”

Doctors believe she’d had the tumor, located in her left temporal lobe, for a long time. The weird sensations she described were actually seizures triggered by its growth. Thankfully, the successful surgery revealed the tumor wasn’t cancerous.

Throughout her ordeal VanAbbema remained determined to graduate on time. Guidance counselor Mike Phillips recalled, “She must have said, ‘I’m going to graduate,’ a couple dozen times. A week or two after surgery, she was begging to come back to school.”

VanAbbema admitted she pushed herself too hard. “I felt like crap,” she said. Phillips saw how difficult it was for her. “She couldn’t remember my name,” he said. She’d forgotten where her classrooms were and had to re-learn her way around the school.

In addition, schoolwork didn’t come easy to her. It was frustrating at times. She said, “I could read, but I couldn’t understand what I was reading.” However, she wasn’t deterred. “I just kept reading and reading and gradually my comprehension came back.”

Special education teacher Tina Smith said her students in the developmental learning center were especially pleased to have VanAbbema back. For several semesters VanAbbema had served as a peer tutor. “The kids in my classroom love her,” Smith said. “She has a real rapport with them.”

VanAbbema enjoys the time she spends in Smith’s class. “I taught a student how to tie a bow,” she said. “I was surprised. I didn’t think I could teach her that, but I did.”

Smith described VanAbbema as an incredibly responsible young woman. “She has so much strength,” she said. Three weeks after surgery the feisty student was back at work at Albertsons.

Because of her grit and determination, VanAbbema will receive her diploma with her class. She plans to pursue a career in special education.

Her health crisis has changed her. “I still struggle with memory,” she said. “And sometimes I find myself blurting out things I shouldn’t – just like a kid.” She laughed. “I’m more outgoing. I’m not embarrassed about things anymore.”

Her new, unabashed outspokenness has proven to be a good complement to her innate maturity. It’s a welcome change for a teen who’s had to be self-sufficient from a young age.

She said, “Nothing’s been handed to me. I’ve had to work hard for everything.”

Inside

For a list of Mead graduates

and details about graduation

see Page 12