Meet Kid Captain Elyna Clements
After having eye pain and headaches, a local optometrist discovered a possible mass behind Elyna’s eye, confirmed by an MRI at a local hospital.
Specialists at University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital removed a rare type of brain tumor that was discovered after Elyna Clements experienced eye irritation and migraine headaches.
“It was late fall of 2020. She started just saying that her eyes were burning, itchy. So we started going to the eye doctor,” Elyna’s father, Steve, recalls of the onset of her health issues at age 7. “At that time everything was fine, and they prescribed some drops.”
Late during Christmas break, the Camanche, Iowa, girl experienced a migraine, so they returned to the eye doctor in January.
“She went from having no vision issues in late fall, to losing her vision by the middle of January,” Steve says.
“In the fall, I think she was having more sporadic issues and she really didn't know how to tell us what was going on,” Elyna’s mother, Erika, adds. “We were noticing her eyes watering and things like that, so that's why they thought it was more allergy related. And then when we went in January and they told her to cover her left eye with the little tool, she couldn't see anything out of her right eye.”
During the exam, the optometrist discovered what she thought was likely a tumor behind Elyna’s eye and sent her to the local hospital for an MRI, which revealed a mass on her brain.
They were immediately referred to UI Stead Family Children's Hospital, where a drain was placed to reduce fluid pressure on her brain, followed by another operation two days later.
“Our daughter underwent an almost nine-hour surgery to remove a golf-ball sized craniopharyngioma tumor,” Erika recalls. “Craniopharyngioma is a very rare form of brain tumor that we were told impacts only 100 to 150 children per year. It's a mass that just starts at birth and it's very slow-growing.”
The neurosurgery team was able to remove the tumor through a cavity in her nose.
While the tumor was benign, Erika says the tumor itself and the removal left Elyna blind in her right eye and with no peripheral vision in her left eye. Following surgery, she developed panhypopituitarism, a condition in which the pituitary gland can’t work properly, causing several hormone deficiencies. As part of this, she has diabetes insipidus, a disorder that causes imbalance of the fluids in the body. She also has adrenal insufficiency because the adrenals are not stimulated to make the hormone cortisol and she has other pituitary hormone deficiencies.
She also developed panhypopituitarism, which causes hormonal insufficiency.
Despite Elyna’s vision and health issues, “she was determined to get back to school,” Erika says. “Going back to second grade was tough, but she has done phenomenal.”
“She is very loving and told us she was thankful that none of her sisters or friends had to have a brain tumor,” Erika adds. “She has also made her career aspirations to be a Child Life Specialist at the hospital because the UI Child Life Specialists meant so much to her during her time there. She wants to create the same experience for other kids that need help.”
Now 9 and in fourth grade, Elyna loves reading and math and has been assistant coach for her soccer team for two years.
“She's been through so much and just had her world turned upside-down,” Erika says. “We know there could be more to come, but we just take it one day at a time and we take all the advice from the doctors that we can and continue to follow their treatment plan. We are very thankful that the hospital was able to quickly assist our daughter in her most desperate time of need. The staff and the support we have received has been incredible.”
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