Patient of the Month: Nicole

When Nicole, 6, complained that her head hurt, her parents Roberto and Tamara brought her to an urgent care to get evaluated. She was prescribed Tylenol, but the pain persisted. Within days, they decided to take their daughter to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, where a multidisciplinary team of specialists noticed Nicole’s eyes were swelling and  ordered more testing. Nicole was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and immediately began treatment at Nicklaus Children’s Brain Institute, including surgery to remove the mass. Nicole’s treatment also consisted of radiation, in collaboration with Baptist Health South Florida and Miami Cancer Institute. Today she is cancer free and, as she tells her parents, “those better be happy tears because I’m still alive.”