Eh Htoo
Born in a refugee camp in Thailand on the Thai-Burma border, Eh Htoo is one of three children.
In 2007, his family relocated to the Unites States through the Jacksonville Catholic Charities Refugee program. Eh was 9 years old when he came to Jacksonville.
The boys quickly made friends through school, the neighborhood and playing sports. Eh joined a soccer team. Several times while playing soccer, he would go into a daze and have excessive saliva. These episodes were later identified as seizures.
Eh is a great big brother, looking out for his siblings. One day, while taking his younger brother to Dr. Mary Soha for his asthma, Eh had a seizure while the doctor was talking to him.
Eh was taken immediately to Nemours Children’s Clinic where an EEG recorded the seizure’s effects. Within 2 weeks, he had an MRI and was diagnosed with AVM (an abnormal vein in the brain). The vein was pumping blood too quickly into Eh’s brain, causing the seizures.
Eh was referred to Wolfson Children’s Hospital. Dr. Philipp Aldana was kind, patient and spent as much time as the family needed to translate the medical situation.
Only two months after Dr. Soha witnessed the seizure, Eh had brain surgery at Wolfson Children’s Hospital with Dr. Aldana.
Eh is very grateful for the friendly doctors and staff. Before his surgery, Wolfson Children’s Hospital’s staff gave Eh his first stuffed animal. Eh was happy to have his first teddy bear!
