Helping others regain their sense of childhood

Sean McMahon

Four years ago Louise Johnston could be forgiven if she had thought she might never see her 21st birthday. Then a teenager, Louise was facing the terrifying prospect of a major operation to remove a brain tumour.
Now completely recovered, the daughter of Pauline and Bernard, and sister of GAA star Sean Johnston, is eager to repay the charity, which gave her such great comfort in her toughest time.
“I had been getting headaches for the previous eight or nine months,” Louise recalls. “It was being diagnosed as migraine and vertigo and different things – we just had not got the scan done till January, 2010. I got the scan done in Cavan General and I was diagnosed that evening, January 15, and that night I was taken to Beaumont Hospital and the following day I got in for surgery.
“It was good in a way that everything happened quickly, and I did not have time to think about it.”
The surgery to remove the benign tumour, called an astrocytoma, from the right hand side of her head took up to five hours. Louise, then a Loreto College pupil, was advised that the operation may compromise her enjoyment of one of her great passions.
“Right before the surgery the surgeon came in and explained the different side effects. That was a scary time and when it hit home, what was happening. I am extremely interested in music and playing the piano. The place where the tumour was could have effected co-ordination and balance; that aspect of it was very daunting just before the surgery.”

Rehabilitation
Following the successful surgery, Louise spent a number of days recovering in Beaumont Hospital and then returned to her home in Cavan.
“I was a bit tired for a few weeks after the surgery. I was doing ok, until about three weeks down the road - I noticed that my balance was starting to be affected. I was just not walking properly at all, and that just got progressively worse. I needed intensive physiotherapy out in Cavan General Hospital, with the rehabilitation team, for a fair few months afterwards,” explained Louise. Fortunately the rehab worked and Louise’s balance is now back to normal.
She enthuses that she is in a “very good place now” - so much so, that she is about to embark on a fundraising campaign for Barretstown in County Kildare - an activity camp for youths diagnosed with serious illnesses.
“I attended it in the summer of 2010. My balance was still pretty bad at that stage. It was really an absolutely fantastic experience in Barretstown and it lifted my confidence so much,” explained Louise, now a second-year student in NUI Maynooth. The camp offers a great range of activities, including climbing walls, horse riding, debating and arts and crafts. “The activities challenge the young people, and consequently they experience new things and meet new people as well – it really is fantastic.”

Sense of childhood
When a young person gets a diagnosis, Louise explained, they often put everyday fun activities to one side.
“Barretstown gives them back a sense of childhood and they feel that they can do normal things again,” she said.
September 21 will see Louise celebrate her 21st birthday and she’s hoping to raise as much money between now and then for Barretstown.
It will climax with her main fundraiser - a sponsored waxing night - on Saturday, September 6 at Cavan Town venue, which has yet to be decided.
Louise says she would like readers to know that literally €2 will make a difference at Barretstown.

To donate see: www.mycharity.ie/event/louisejohnstons21st/