Family Matters: Psychosocial Factors on Neuropsychological Outcome

Jamie was a typically developing, healthy, and active teenaged girl who enjoyed life. She did well in school, especially in math and science, and dreamed of becoming a science teacher. Jamie and her family were not initially alarmed when she seemed to come down with the flu after returning from a family vacation in Maine. However, when the usual medicines just did not seem to work and Jamie 's health instead began declining rapidly, her mother decided it was time to see the doctor. A blood test led to other tests, and soon, without warning, Jamie was diagnosed with leukemia, aform of cancer in the blood (Box 12.1). Jamie 's world was immediately turned upside down. She barely had time to even think about her new diagnosis before having to start an aggressive chemotherapy treatment. Her parents were devastated and scared as they tried to sort through the impact of this diagnosis on their daughter 's future. Over the next few weeks, Jamie 's health problems multiplied as she suffered a left-sided stroke that resulted in right-sided hemiparesis (weakness) and aphasia (language problems). Jamie was rushed to the hospital and underwent multiple surgeries to address complications related to the stroke. After her surgeries, Jamie was transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation unit to learn to function independently again. At that point, the right side of Jamie 's body was paralyzed, and she could not speak, control her bladder, or eat independently and thus required a feeding tube.