Girl gets break from cancer treatment

Oliviah Hall, 9, ASHTABULA — bounced off her school bus Thursday and quickly shared stories of the day with her father Bryan Brown.

As she headed home after a day of school, there were no outward signs Oliviah had ended six weeks of radiation and chemotherapy less than 14 days ago.

Oliviah is scheduled for an even better break this weekend as she will attend a rehearsal and an ice skat- ing show in Cleveland with the world famous Scott Hamilton.

Hamilton, an Olympian and cancer survivor, is sched- uled to meet Olivia tonight with seven members of her family then attend a show and a “black tie” gala at Quicken Loans Arena.

Oliviah said she has watched Hamilton perform on video and is looking forward to meeting him.

“I like how they do the tricks. It is really cool,” she said.

The event is sponsored by Casey Cares, an organization that specializes in helping children facing illness at a young age.

Oliviah is the daughter of Brown and Miriah Hall and was struggling with low energy and “cold-like” symp- toms in early August.

After several weeks of trying to diagnose the problem, doctors ordered a cat scan and found a brain tumor.

Brown said she was diag- nosed with glioblastoma multiforme — a particularly aggressive type of tumor — and had two surgeries at the Cleveland Clinic this summer. The first, on Aug. 3, was to remove fluid from the brain, while the second, Aug. 8, was to remove the tumor.

The next challenge was treatment.

“She did six weeks of radia- tion, Monday through Friday, and chemotherapy, every day,” Bryan said.

Bryan s aid the family stayed at Ronald McDon- ald House for much of the treatment time until she returned home on Oct. 20. She was able to return to school almost immediately.

“She barely had any side effects,” Bryan said.

The Ashtabula County Medical Center financial aid workers were helpful in expediting her treatment locally, he said.

Bryan added they were grateful for an Oct. 7 fundraiser to raise money for treatment.

In addition to the trip to Cleveland this weekend, Oliviah is also scheduled for a trip to Disney World next week through the Cleveland Foundation, which seeks to help sick children, Bryan said.

Oliviah still has a lot of challenges in front of her — Bryan said in most similar cases the survival rate is less than five years — but the blood work has been good so far.

As for the weekend show, Bryan told Casey Cares that while Oliviah had been to Disney on Ice before, she’d never seen anything at this level.

“She feels like a little celebrity.”