I wanted to tell you a very brave and courageous story. My student Lydia Wu in the primary division (9 years old) just went through her second brain surgery today. This is the second brain surgery she has gone through in the last 17 days. Three weeks ago Lydia was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. She went through a 12 hour long surgery (17days ago) to remove three tumors that were found in her brain. At first the doctors told her parents that she may lose her ability to talk and all her motor skills and coordination after the surgery. It was a very very difficult time for all of us. All of our church members were praying 24 hours a day for a miracle to happen. At that time I withdrew her application for the auditions festival in March because we knew there was no way she could participate in that event. It was too late for concerto competition so I didn't even bother to tell David about it. I just figured she wouldn't show up. But God truly performed a miracle on her. She came out of the 12 hour surgery and was able to talk normally. 12 days after her surgery, she wanted to play her concerto movement for me and said she still wanted to try to go to the concerto competition last Sat. Two days before the competition, the radioligists found another tumor in her brain. They had to make the decision to operate on her for the second time today. Knowing this, this brave little 9 year old made the long trip to CCM (feeling dizzy and nauseated from the car ride because of the imbalance she was still suffering from the previous operation) to play her movement. She will have to go through chemotherapy and radiation for the next few months. We are all truly proud of her and are touched and inspired by her courage and dedication to playing her instrument. She knows what lies ahead for her because while she was recovering from her 1ast surgery, she went on line to read about radiation and chemotherapy. She is a very bright and adorable child.

Do you suppose OMTA could present her a little certificate of medal of some sort to award her for her dedication to music? It's OK if you think it is inappropriate. I just thought I would ask because nobody could believe how strong she was to be able to face this kind of pain and adversity and still want to continue with where she left off before this all happened. She has a lot of faith in God and she wants people to know that.

She is in Children's Hospital now and will probably be there for a while. If there is some small gesture OMTA can do for her, that would be great. If not, that is alright too. Thanks for your consideration.

Benita