David Crochet
July 14, 2009
Houma house fire kills 4 pets
July 16, 2009
The parents of a 5-year-old Houma girl are asking the community to support a pair of events intended to raise money for her medical treatment.
Arianna Paddle was diagnosed with Pontine Glioma, an inoperable tumor on the brain stem, in April. The family will hold a benefit for her at the Municipal Auditorium, 880 Verrett St., on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The benefit features several local bands, plate lunches and an auction.
Admission is $5 as are the jambalaya and white bean plate lunches. Items to be auctioned include furniture, jewelry, an ice chest, framed pictures and more.
Local bands Southern Boys, Stormy Weather, Rockin Oldies and Bronson Billiot & Bayou Rain will provide musical entertainment throughout the day.
On Sunday, the Paddle family is holding a poker run beginning at the Jubilee Casino, 831 La. Highway 182, Schriever, and ending at Burma Hall, 1988 Burma Road, Houma.
Registration begins at 8 a.m. at Jubilee. The cost is $15 per rider and $10 per passenger. The poker run is open to all vehicles. Riders begin leaving at 8:15 a.m.
Arianna’s parents, Lance and Nikki Paddle, are thankful for the community support they have received over the past several months.
“Words can’t even describe all the help we’ve been getting from everybody,” Nikki Paddle said. “It’s unbelievable. It’s overwhelming. People we don’t even know are coming together to help us get the treatment she needs.”
Her parents knew something was wrong when Arianna began experiencing symptoms – headaches, crossed eyes, losing control of facial muscles, walking wobbly and slurred speech.
Doctors at Terrebonne General Medical Center performed a CT scan and discovered the two-and-half-inch diameter tumor on Arianna’s brain stem. She was then taken to Children’s Hospital in New Orleans where doctors gave her an MRI and made the diagnosis on April 5.
“We were devastated,” Nikki Paddle said.
Arianna has completed radiation treatment and continues to have routine MRI testing to see how the tumor is responding. A recent MRI showed a 40 percent reduction in the tumor’s size, according to her mother.
The family hopes to raise enough money so Arianna can receive treatment at the Brzezinski Clinic in Houston.
Rather than just shrink the cancer cells, which radiation does, Dr. S.R. Brzezinski uses anti-neoplasten treatment to target and kill cancer cells.
“He’s the only one that has given us any long-term hope – more than any of the doctors (at Children’s) have given us,” Nikki Paddle said. “He’s had patients with the same type of tumor (Arianna) has and has a lot higher survival rate than anything here.”
A year’s worth of treatment costs over $100,000, Nikki Paddle said.
Despite her age, Arianna has been brave through her ordeal, according to her mother.
“She was scared at first, but when she’s about to get testing, we just explain everything to her,” Nikki Paddle said. “She’s been a trooper through it all. She’s been braver than I could have been.”
A benefit concert and poker run are being held this weekend to help defray medical expenses for 5-year-old Arianna Paddle. * Photo courtesy of PADDLE FAMILY
