'Pray for Noah:' Community rallies as toddler undergoes brain surgery

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November 24, 2009

By Kelly Kazek The News Courier Tue Nov 24, 2009, 10:40 AM CST

Noah Crowe likes Elmo and dirt.

He’s a toddler; it’s his job.

In a toss-up, Elmo would likely win. The 21-month-old Noah loves watching “Sesame Street,” said his dad John David Crowe.

But this weekend Noah watched television from a bed in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

And today, he will undergo surgery to remove a tumor from his brain that grew so quickly, his brain has swelled and put pressure on his brain stem.

John David and Noah’s mom Jessica are in Birmingham at their son’s side, so they set up the Web site http://prayfornoah.weebly.com/ to keep friends and family informed of his progress. John David is music minister, as well as college and group pastor, at Friendship United Methodist Church.

A neurologist told the Crowes that the rapid growth of the mass, which caused Noah to lose some control of motor skills and alerted his parents something was wrong, likely means it is malignant.

In addition, the mass is crisscrossed with blood vessels, making the surgery extremely risky. A team of neurologists will be in the operating room when the procedure begins at 7:15 this morning.

“The neurologist said they would remove part of the skull on his left side and cut the tumor away layer by layer, being careful not to cut a blood vessel,” John David said. “He told me there is a 30 percent chance Noah could bleed to death on the operating table so they have to be very careful.”

Are they terrified?

At first, John David said, they were. And when Noah is not at their side, Jessica has shed enough tears to float an ark.

“But there’s a peace that passes all understanding when you know God works it out for good,” John David said Monday. “Tomorrow will be the worst day or our lives, and it will be the best.”

Jessica, he said, “is a rock.”

“She’s got a positive word in her mouth and a smile on her face,” he said. “When we do get to see Noah, she laughs and cuts up and cuddles and kisses.”

Church members are sending posts across Facebook pages: “Pray for Noah.” “Every prayer counts.”

Lynne Hart told members of the Facebook community to send messages so she can let the Crowe family how many people are praying.

She received responses from Trinity United Methodist Church, First Baptist Church of Athens, Hellfighters Motorcycle Ministries in Huntsville, churches in North Carolina, Madison and Ohio, among others.

Also, Melissa Blevins at BBVA Compass in Athens set up a fund so people can donate to help with the Crowe family’s expenses. Visit any Compass bank across North Alabama and look under the names Jessica or Noah Crowe to make donations, Blevins said.

The Crowes, who rented a hotel room in Birmingham after Noah was checked into the hospital Saturday, now have a room in the Ronald McDonald House. John David said neither of them slept Saturday and decided to sleep in the hospital waiting room Sunday night.

“The neurologist said the swelling in his brain is so severe, they were monitoring his vital signs every few hours to be sure didn’t need to go into emergency surgery,” John David said. “We wanted to be at the hospital if that happened.”

Because of Noah’s precarious condition, doctors allowed a rare trip from the ICU.

“They filled a red wagon full of pillows and they allowed us to take him down to main lobby where there’s a humongous Christmas tree,” John David said. “We took him out for about 30 minutes. There’s a glass crosswalk over the highway and he loves cars so we stopped to watch the cars. He perked up and became his old self again. He was squirming and squealing and smiling at jokes. That whole experience was worth more than you can imagine.”

The length of Noah’s recovery will depend on whether the mass is malignant and how much surgeons are able to remove. Noah will likely undergo physical therapy similar to a stroke victim’s to relearn some skills.

“If they can’t get all the tumor, they’ll close up, let him recover and start chemo to shrink it. Then they’ll go back and have to get more,” John David said. “There’s a high possibility he’ll lose a lot, if not all, ability to move his right arm and right leg, but the doctor said the brain has a great way of repairing and repatching.”