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Blood Donors Help Teacher Recover from Brain Tumor
Elementary
school teacher Terrie Kamo thought the headaches she experienced during
a Big Island trip with her son's baseball team were caused by eye strain
or stress, but an MRI later revealed the cause of her pain — a brain
tumor the size of a golf ball.
“It was
really scary,” Kamo recalled. “Everything just flashed through my mind,
especially my kids, who were three and eight at the time.” Thanks to the
encouragement of everyone around her, she maintained a positive outlook
despite knowing that her life could be at stake. “I had wonderful
support from the baseball ohana, my Manoa School and Queen Emma
Preschool families, and, of course, my own family. That allowed me to
focus on getting better,” said Kamo.
Kamo needed several units of blood during a six-hour surgery, performed
by Dr. Warren Ishida at Kuakini Hospital. During her recovery,
everything around her seemed to move faster, she shuffled about in a bit
of a daze, and helping her kids with homework was a challenge for a
while, but after six months she saw major improvements. Dozens of follow
up MRIs have had positive results.
“I'm grateful for all the doctors who helped me, and also the blood
donors who took the time to donate blood for someone they've never met,”
said Kamo.
Kamo is now teaching at Kamiloiki School in Hawaii Kai. She appreciates
the blood donors who helped save her life and she is also happy to have
blood donors in her family. Her husband Clem was a regular blood donor
and her oldest son Jeremy, who works for the British Consulate in
California, also gives regularly. Her youngest son Ryan donated for the
first time as a senior at Iolani School. His picture is featured on the
passenger side of the new bloodmobile. “I'm proud of all of them for
helping others and I'm also happy that Ryan is representing Hawaii's
youngest blood donors,” said Kamo.
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