Re-wired Brain!

At just 8 years old, she was having up to 150 seizures a day. Then doctors removed half of her brain. Christina Santhouse underwent a rare hemispherectomy, a life-saving surgery that removed the right hemisphere of her brain in an effort to stop the relentless seizures. Doctors warned that the consequences could be devastating. She might struggle to walk, speak, or ever live independently. But Christina’s brain did something extraordinary. Through neuroplasticity, the remaining half gradually reorganized itself and took over many of the functions that had been lost. And she didn’t just recover. Christina went on to earn a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree, build a career as a speech pathologist, and start a family of her own. Half a brain removed. 150 seizures a day stopped. A life doctors feared might never be normal became anything but ordinary. Her story is a remarkable example of just how powerful and adaptable the human brain can be.