Sometimes fate plays unfair.
Young athlete and hula dancer Kaikea Ahuna of Kapaa, Kauai, is battling a rare condition that’s threatening nerves that control his voice, swallowing and facial movement.
Ahuna, 14, is scheduled to undergo surgery Thursday at Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., to remove a tumor at the base of his skull. Dr. Gerald Grant, a pediatric neurosurgeon, said the procedure is expected to take at least 12 hours.
The tumor is in a difficult spot, close to the carotid artery and jugular vein near his brain, he said.
The lesion is either destroying or pushing against the nerves that control his vocal cords and near nerves that control swallowing.
“If this grows, it can affect his swallowing,” Grant said in a phone interview Friday. “That’s the worry we have.”
He added that the tumor has eroded some of the surrounding skull bone.
Kaikea’s parents, Kanoe Ahuna and Dan Ahuna, an Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee representing Kauai and Niihau, arrived in the Bay Area in early April, profoundly worried about their son and intently focused on his well-being.
About a week after they arrived, at about 6:30 p.m. April 15, they parked their rented sport utility vehicle at a meter at Fisherman’s Wharf to meet with friends. They made sure to lock the SUV because it had all their luggage inside; they had been hopping between hotels and homes of friends during their stay.
When they returned to their SUV a half-hour later, they found the hatchback ajar.
Thieves had taken a backpack with a laptop, a camera and textbooks that belonged to Kaikea’s older brother, Kalili. Most upsetting to the Ahuna family was the theft of an aluminum carry-on case filled with cards from family members and friends for Kaikea. His mother had planned to hang the cards in his hospital room.
“Out of all the bags, they took that one, the irreplaceable one,” said Kanoe Ahuna in a phone interview from the hospital. “This is just really depressing. You feel violated and hurt.”
The case also contained Kaikea’s medical records, documents from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, gifts from friends and a Hawaiian flag to display in his room, she said.
Ahuna said police and the community have been supportive in trying to track down the stolen items, getting the word out on social media, including Instagram and Twitter. There was also a story on KGO-TV.
“It’s extremely nice to know that all these people want to help.” But so far, no luck.
In February a neurosurgeon diagnosed Ahuna with vagal schwannoma, a tumor in his brain that affects a nerve that controls the vocal cords. At the time, the tumor was the diameter of a quarter, just under an inch. It has since grown to just over 2 inches long and just over an inch wide.
The location of the lesion is what surgeons are most concerned with.
Before he was diagnosed, Ahuna suffered from the flu in July and lost his voice. His voice returned a couple of months later, but he couldn’t yell.
His parents took him to see his doctor, and he later underwent a CT scan and an MRI. He and his family then flew to Oahu, where a specialist diagnosed him.
GRANT, the doctor, said the tumor is rare for children and teens and more commonly seen in adults.
Ahuna, a freshman at Kapaa High, made the varsity team for volleyball.
He also aspires to become a kumu hula, having won first place in the Keiki Hula Competition in 2012 and 2013 in kahiko and auana. But right now he is unable to oli — chant — because his voice is hoarse, his mother said.
But he hasn’t let it get him down.
“He’s such an amazing kid, incredibly mature in how he’s handling this,” Grant said.
Also part of the surgical team will be Dr. Robert Jackler, an ear and nerve specialist, and Dr. Griffin Harsh, a neurosurgeon and skull base expert.
“It’s combining all the strengths of the institution we have to work together, which is a safer approach to get the best possible outcome for him,” said Grant.
Those interested in making a donation toward Ahuna’s medical expenses can visit gofundme.com/ kaikearocketstrong.
