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WINONA LAKE -ÊMatthew Hummitch is 3 years old.
About 80 percent of the left side of his brain was removed Oct. 20.
Today, except for his scar, no one outside of the family would know unless they were told.
"It's very hard for non-Christians to think about this, but the power of Jesus Christ does work," Marty Hummitch, Matthew's father, said.
Matthew was a normal baby until he was 15 months old, when he began to suffer from seizures. Marty and his wife, Tanya, were told that Matthew had epilepsy. In two and a half years, the seizures progressed to five different types. Up to the day of his surgery, he would have up to 1,000 seizures a day or one every two to five seconds.
"For the last two years, it just changed our family. We couldn't go out. Babysitters were afraid to babysit him," Tanya said.
Now, Matthew runs around, chases the dog, plays with his toys and laughs. He may even play a sport when he gets older.
"It looks really, really good," Tanya said.
"Doctors are very optimistic concerning his case so far, but there's no guarantees. It looks very good."
The family would not have been so optimistic had it not been for members of the First Presbyterian Church and their on-line support group. It was the Internet support that led Marty and Tanya to the doctor who finally helped them more than any other doctor was able to in the past.
"Without the Internet, we would have never found the doctor," Tanya said.
Dr. Harry T. Chugani, professor of pediatrics, neurology and radiology at Children's Hospital of Michigan in the Detroit Medical Center, is also director at the Positron Emission Tomography Center and the Epilepsy Surgery Program in Detroit. Marty said Chugani travels all around the world performing operations and educating neurosurgeons on treatments.
Tanya said, "He is a doctor who works for a purpose. He never treated Matthew as a second-class citizen."
Removing the part of Matthew's brain affected was an eight-hour operation. They woke him up about an hour afterward.
"The doctor told us that it was critical in the 12 hours after surgery that we see the right side of his body move," Tanya said.
Not only did they see the right side of his body move, but they also heard him speak. He wasn't able to speak well previously because of the seizures.
"His first words were, 'Mommy, Daddy, hold me,'" Tanya said.
"Before the surgery, doctors said they didn't expect Matthew to talk again," she said. "There's no way to predict that (he would talk again)."
Before the actual removal of his brain, 84 electrodes were placed on his brain to find the problem area. He was monitored and video-recorded to note his movement and where seizures were coming from.
The only parts of the left side of his brain not removed during the actual surgery were the motor cortex, a small portion of the occipital lobe in the back and a front portion of the frontal lobe. If the motor cortex had been damaged or removed, Matthew would have been paralyzed. The occipital lobe was left intact to protect his eyesight.
Matthew was discharged from the hospital six days after the operation. He was able to crawl. On day seven, he was able to walk with the support of his mother. On day eight, he walked by himself. On day nine, he ran after the family dog.
Marty realizes that there will come a day when Matthew has questions about the operation. If there are any effects later in his life from the operation, Marty said they would be prepared for that day.
"You ask yourself if you've done the right thing," Marty said.
"When he gets older, if he asks why we did this, I'll say, 'For the ability for you to ask that question.'"
Before the surgery, the Hummitch family tried other options. Drug therapy didn't work; neither did vitamin therapy or a ketogenic diet. A ketogenic diet mocks a fasting and is a high-fat diet.
"They never worked for him. They were a drug nightmare," Tanya said.
Marty said it was very hard to go through that because Matthew would only be able to eat four green beans during the ketogenic diet and he would shove them in his mouth, crying.
"He was so hungry," Tanya said. "He had no quality of life."
Matthew's sister, Laura, who's not much older than Matthew, had to deal with a lot during this time.
"It's really bothered her," Marty said.
He said that she was often passed from relative to relative while the family was in Detroit. While Matthew was having seizures, Laura was often the one Matthew lashed out against.
"She asked, 'Why's he so mean to me?'" Marty said. "She has handled it like a trooper."
The Hummitch family is still waiting for the pathology report to find out why Matthew suffered from epilepsy, but the doctor said it may be due to cell migration. It wasn't due to anything Tanya or Marty did and usually is triggered during the first trimester of pregnancy.
"You could be walking around with cell migration and never know it," Tanya said.
One thing the Hummitch family does know is that the bills will be coming in soon. Medicaid paid some of it, but not all. They don't know the total due yet.
"It hasn't been felt yet," Marty said. "We're waiting for it."
Marty, a concrete contractor, recently saw his business cut in half. Friends at church have offered to help as much as they could, too.
"I really believe the Lord led us here and he will help us through," Tanya said.
"Matthew is a fortunate case," she said.
Marty said, "A lot of children out there aren't surgery candidates. It's totally amazing, the technology."
"By the grace of God, it's odd that we got him," Marty said.
"Prayer played a very big part in this happening. There is a living Christ. He healed my son."
