OceanAnnie
I guess I have a thing against
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Two more children who have lived in The Acreage diagnosed with brain tumors
THE ACREAGE — Two more children who have lived in The Acreage have been diagnosed with brain tumors in the past few weeks.
The news comes as state health officials conduct interviews to learn if common patterns exist among 13 other Acreage children who have suffered from brain tumors in recent years.
Cynthia Santiago, an eighth-grader at Western Pines Middle School, had been dealing with headaches for about a year when the pain became too severe to bear before Thanksgiving, and her parents rushed her to the emergency room. Until then, neither doctors nor her parents suspected she had a brain tumor. Surgeons operated on the 13-year-old on Thursday .
"We're just taking it one day at a time," her mother said. "She is home. She's doing much better."
Al Cothern never thought his son had a brain tumor, either: "He never complained of any problems."
But in the early morning hours of this past Wednesday, the 13-year-old had a seizure. Surgeons removed a tumor Friday .
Both families are awaiting pathology results.
It's unclear how long the Santiagos have lived in The Acreage, but they have owned their home on 54th Lane North since 1996, according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser. The Cotherns lived on Temple Boulevard from March 2006 through June of this year.
Some Acreage residents suspect that environmental pollution has caused the brain tumors in the roughly 45,000-resident community that relies mainly on well water. So do several law firms, including New York's Weitz & Luxenberg that works with activist Erin Brockovich. Lawyers with that firm did not return calls Monday.
The state Department of Environmental Protection randomly sampled 50 private wells in The Acreage in August and September, but concluded that groundwater in the community shows no signs of man-made contamination exceeding state limits.
Still, the fact that there are new cases isn't sitting well with several families.
"This is just a little too weird for me," said Becky Samarripa, whose 15-year-old daughter had a brain tumor removed a year ago.
Only one incident of brain cancer or a central nervous system tumor would be expected in The Acreage from 2005 through 2007 — a three-year period, according to the state health department, which started investigating for a brain cancer cluster in The Acreage in June.
The two recent diagnoses aren't part of the study, now in its second phase, county health department spokesman Tim O'Connor said. But the health officials will note new cases reported to the Florida Cancer Data Registry, which gathers reports of tumors from physicians across the state, he said.
Health officials by Jan. 1 expect to finish interviewing the families of 13 children who were younger than 18 when diagnosed with a brain tumor or brain cancer from 1993-2008.
Staff researcher Niels Heimeriks contributed to this story.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/t...ve-lived-in-the-120712.html?showComments=true
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Does anyone that lives in that area know any more about this story? Scary. My heart goes out to the children and families.
THE ACREAGE — Two more children who have lived in The Acreage have been diagnosed with brain tumors in the past few weeks.
The news comes as state health officials conduct interviews to learn if common patterns exist among 13 other Acreage children who have suffered from brain tumors in recent years.
Cynthia Santiago, an eighth-grader at Western Pines Middle School, had been dealing with headaches for about a year when the pain became too severe to bear before Thanksgiving, and her parents rushed her to the emergency room. Until then, neither doctors nor her parents suspected she had a brain tumor. Surgeons operated on the 13-year-old on Thursday .
"We're just taking it one day at a time," her mother said. "She is home. She's doing much better."
Al Cothern never thought his son had a brain tumor, either: "He never complained of any problems."
But in the early morning hours of this past Wednesday, the 13-year-old had a seizure. Surgeons removed a tumor Friday .
Both families are awaiting pathology results.
It's unclear how long the Santiagos have lived in The Acreage, but they have owned their home on 54th Lane North since 1996, according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser. The Cotherns lived on Temple Boulevard from March 2006 through June of this year.
Some Acreage residents suspect that environmental pollution has caused the brain tumors in the roughly 45,000-resident community that relies mainly on well water. So do several law firms, including New York's Weitz & Luxenberg that works with activist Erin Brockovich. Lawyers with that firm did not return calls Monday.
The state Department of Environmental Protection randomly sampled 50 private wells in The Acreage in August and September, but concluded that groundwater in the community shows no signs of man-made contamination exceeding state limits.
Still, the fact that there are new cases isn't sitting well with several families.
"This is just a little too weird for me," said Becky Samarripa, whose 15-year-old daughter had a brain tumor removed a year ago.
Only one incident of brain cancer or a central nervous system tumor would be expected in The Acreage from 2005 through 2007 — a three-year period, according to the state health department, which started investigating for a brain cancer cluster in The Acreage in June.
The two recent diagnoses aren't part of the study, now in its second phase, county health department spokesman Tim O'Connor said. But the health officials will note new cases reported to the Florida Cancer Data Registry, which gathers reports of tumors from physicians across the state, he said.
Health officials by Jan. 1 expect to finish interviewing the families of 13 children who were younger than 18 when diagnosed with a brain tumor or brain cancer from 1993-2008.
Staff researcher Niels Heimeriks contributed to this story.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/t...ve-lived-in-the-120712.html?showComments=true
_________________________________________________________
Does anyone that lives in that area know any more about this story? Scary. My heart goes out to the children and families.
