Name: Montana Clem

Listen to her story:

Montana is no stranger to the hospital.  Diagnosed with Acute Lymphoma Leukemia at just 18 months old, Montana has spent quite a bit of her life in a hospital.  Her first treatment was in 1999, and out of the next 3 years, Montana and her family spent 1 year of that time in the hospital.  She made it through and came out in remission. 

Unfortunately, in August of 2005, Montana had a stroke, and doctors discovered that the leukemia was back.  Montana and her grandparents were in Wolfson Children’s Hospital from August 05 until December 28, 05 – after that, they spent 2-3 weeks a month in the hospital.  She is currently going through chemo-therapy and radiation therapy.   Due to the stroke, Montana is now blind.  In school, she is being taught brail and learning skills to help her to live life as a blind person.  On top of everything else this young 9 year old has to deal with, she also has to cope with uncontrollable and unpredictable seizures.  These seizures limit her ability to do normal childhood activities.  She can no longer play on the swing sets, because of fear she will have a stroke while swinging; she has trouble swimming for fear of drowning because of the trac in her throat.  Her grandparents hope that if they can get the seizures under control, Montana can get her trac removed and start living life as a normal blind person.

Montana’s grandfather says that her attitude is great, and she loves listening to music and playing with her two younger brothers.  As her guardians, Montana’s grandparents say it is hard to watch her go through, but they hope that the seizures can be controlled so that Montana will be able to have as normal of a life as possible.