Amarilis Rubalcaba’s Story

Amaryllis is 13 years old and she loves to play sports. Her favorite is basketball.

In fact, when Amaryllis was warming up to play in a City League Basketball Tournament, a basketball hit her in the face.

“They were trying to shoot from half court and while I was preparing my lay up,” said Amarilis. “It ended up hitting me in the head. I got a bit dizzy. That was on Wednesday and by Friday, we were having team sports at school, and I was playing volleyball with my friends. I still don’t know how it happened, but another ball hit me on the same side.”

After the second hit her in the head, Amaryllis started to feel dizzy, again. Her mother decided to take her to the doctor.

“We rushed her to Emergency,” Said Amarilis’ Mom, “they did a CAT scan on her and they found something.”

The neurosurgeon came and showed them the CAT scan and he said there was a cyst inside Amarilis’ brain, and it needed to be removed through surgery.

When Amaryllis and her mom came to El Paso Children’s Hospital for surgery, they met Child life Specialist, Megan Kamau, who through therapeutic activities prepared Amaryllis for her surgery. Watch this video to see how Child Life plays an important role in a pediatric patient.