Troy University Athletics
The Power of Prayer
1/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Who is E.B. and why did members of the Troy football team wear bracelets with her name on them? Erin Brynn Johnson is her name. She's a young girl from Troy and she has cancer, and her remarkable story has grabbed the attention and prayers of many.
"It feels good anytime you help someone out," Troy head coach Larry Blakeney said. "We were getting guys all the way up until game time putting on the bracelets."
Blakeney was informed of Johnson's situation and wanted to help any way he could. An anonymous donor donated 150 bracelets to the football team to wear during their GMAC bowl appearance against Central Michigan in Mobile. The story touched Blakeney deeply as he has three grandchildren of his own, one of which is Johnson's age.
Erin Brynn Johnson, most commonly known as E.B. to family and friends, was the picture of health. She was always active. She loved gymnastics, cheering, dance, rodeo, playing with her brothers Colton and Logan and beauty pageants. She loved going to the beach with her grandparents. She was always happy. She never met a stranger and was full of life. She attended Collegedale Christian School in Troy, where she had Parker and Mase as her boyfriends. She loved EB sandwiches where Momma and Daddy put her in between them and squeezed.
One morning last November, the day started just like any other morning in the Johnson household. Troy and Marla woke their kids up to get them ready for school and when their three-year-old daughter E.B. complained of headache, they figured it was just a sinus infection and gave her some medicine. A few days later on November 11, the headaches did not stop and they decided to take her to the doctor. The doctor examined her and gave her medication to take to clear up the headache. Over the next eight days she seemed to be getting better, but it didn't last.
On November 19, she began to vomit. Troy and Marla took her back to the doctor with the belief that she had a virus of some sort. The doctor changed out the medicine from the previous visit and she felt better for the next few days. The vomiting returned, and Marla took her back to the doctor. Doctor's decided to do a C.T. scan of her head. The X-Rays showed something was wrong. The doctor decided it would be best to send her to the Children's Hospital in Birmingham. On November 23, she was admitted to PICU.
The next day, she had an MRI performed and an External Ventricular Drain placed on the top of her head. The doctor told Troy and Marla that E.B.'s condition was unstable and she could have possibly stopped breathing if she was not brought to PICU. The news from the MRI was hard to fathom for the parents of a three-year-old. The doctor informed them that she had a brain tumor the size of a lemon. Surgery was scheduled for the day after Thanksgiving to remove the tumor.
While performing the surgery, the doctor discovered that the tumor was cancerous. Now he had the unbearable task of telling the people that loved E.B. the most that their daughter had cancer.
Cancer was not the only bad news that came out of surgery. Her brain was beginning to swell. Her blood pressure skyrocketed, and they were unable to cut the entire tumor out because it was wrapped around her brain stem. The doctor told Troy and Marla that he had to stop the surgery earlier than expected because of these problems. He put her in an induced coma because she could not be moved or her blood pressure would spike up again.
She was diagnosed with Anaplastic Ependymoma. It is a rare type of cancer found in the left ventricle on the bottom left corner of the brain. There is on only about 100 cases worldwide every year, and it is more commonly found in children 10 years or younger.
As she continued to fight over the next 6 weeks, word got around of her condition. A facebook group was started called "Prayers for E.B. Johnson". The group has grown to just under 6,000 members as of this date. Prayers and support came flooding in from friends, family, and even strangers. Members of the group began to donate money to the Johnson family to help pay for the medical treatment. Troy University organizations started to contribute by collecting pop tabs to help the family pay for a room at the Ronald McDonald house. These organizations include Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity and the Theater Department. The amazing thing is these organizations had no idea who E.B. or her family was, but they were willing to help out any way they could.
Coach Blakeney called a team meeting the week before they left for Mobile and presented the idea of wearing the bracelets to the team. Everyone was willing to show there support for this little girl, especially Quarterback Levi Brown.
"It hit a nerve with me," Brown said. "There is a girl I go to church with back home. She had a brain tumor and has been fighting it for several years and she just died a few weeks ago."
One thing that Brown likes to do is write on his football cleats. Once he heard about E.B., he wrote E.B.J. on one side and Erin Brynn on the back of them.
Brown is no stranger to stories like E.B.'s. He and few other players on the team visited the Children's Hospital while in Mobile. He also is interested in traveling to Africa to help out the children in Darfur. He believes the power of prayer rallies people around E.B. to let her know that she is not in this fight alone and that she will come out of this.
"Underprivileged children is where my passion is," Brown said. "Things happen to them and they have no way to control it. It's just unfortunate and I want to help them if I could."
Linebacker Bear Woods sent a football to E.B. when he heard of her situation. More and more things come to E.B. each day.
E.B. has continued to fight since the Trojans' bowl game. The doctors discovered she had suffered a stroke in the first surgery, and she will have to learn everything over again. She would have some good days to where her mother could hold her and some bad days to where she had trouble with her blood pressure and acid reflux. The doctors decided to perform another surgery on January 11 to give her a spinal tap and a port for her to begin chemo when the time is right. The surgery went well, with the exception of the spinal tap, because she did not have enough spinal fluid to draw off. The doctors scheduled an MRI for later that night and the family waited eagerly for the results.
The next morning, the family met with the doctors to discuss the future plans for E.B. They reported that E.B.'s tumor was completely gone because the stroke she suffered in the first surgery killed the cancer cells. Troy and Marla believed it was the power of prayer from all her supporters. She will start eight weeks of chemo and six weeks of radiation on January 25.
Doctors decided that E.B. was able to move out of PICU and into her own room in the hospital. They discovered that spinal tap/lumbar puncture showed no cancer cells in her spinal fluid. Again, the power of prayer had prevailed. E.B. has had many visitors come and go since she has been in the hospital, but her parents have never left her side. She continues to show improvement as she fights to full recovery.
The Johnson family will tell you the beautiful thing about prayer is that anyone can pray. Prayer is just as strong whether is comes from a pastor, family, friends, students, strangers or football players. Nobody knows how this unfortunate event will play out, but with the power of prayer, anything is possible and the Johnson family will take all of the prayers they can get.
"It feels good anytime you help someone out," Troy head coach Larry Blakeney said. "We were getting guys all the way up until game time putting on the bracelets."
Blakeney was informed of Johnson's situation and wanted to help any way he could. An anonymous donor donated 150 bracelets to the football team to wear during their GMAC bowl appearance against Central Michigan in Mobile. The story touched Blakeney deeply as he has three grandchildren of his own, one of which is Johnson's age.
Erin Brynn Johnson, most commonly known as E.B. to family and friends, was the picture of health. She was always active. She loved gymnastics, cheering, dance, rodeo, playing with her brothers Colton and Logan and beauty pageants. She loved going to the beach with her grandparents. She was always happy. She never met a stranger and was full of life. She attended Collegedale Christian School in Troy, where she had Parker and Mase as her boyfriends. She loved EB sandwiches where Momma and Daddy put her in between them and squeezed.
One morning last November, the day started just like any other morning in the Johnson household. Troy and Marla woke their kids up to get them ready for school and when their three-year-old daughter E.B. complained of headache, they figured it was just a sinus infection and gave her some medicine. A few days later on November 11, the headaches did not stop and they decided to take her to the doctor. The doctor examined her and gave her medication to take to clear up the headache. Over the next eight days she seemed to be getting better, but it didn't last.
On November 19, she began to vomit. Troy and Marla took her back to the doctor with the belief that she had a virus of some sort. The doctor changed out the medicine from the previous visit and she felt better for the next few days. The vomiting returned, and Marla took her back to the doctor. Doctor's decided to do a C.T. scan of her head. The X-Rays showed something was wrong. The doctor decided it would be best to send her to the Children's Hospital in Birmingham. On November 23, she was admitted to PICU.
The next day, she had an MRI performed and an External Ventricular Drain placed on the top of her head. The doctor told Troy and Marla that E.B.'s condition was unstable and she could have possibly stopped breathing if she was not brought to PICU. The news from the MRI was hard to fathom for the parents of a three-year-old. The doctor informed them that she had a brain tumor the size of a lemon. Surgery was scheduled for the day after Thanksgiving to remove the tumor.
While performing the surgery, the doctor discovered that the tumor was cancerous. Now he had the unbearable task of telling the people that loved E.B. the most that their daughter had cancer.
Cancer was not the only bad news that came out of surgery. Her brain was beginning to swell. Her blood pressure skyrocketed, and they were unable to cut the entire tumor out because it was wrapped around her brain stem. The doctor told Troy and Marla that he had to stop the surgery earlier than expected because of these problems. He put her in an induced coma because she could not be moved or her blood pressure would spike up again.
She was diagnosed with Anaplastic Ependymoma. It is a rare type of cancer found in the left ventricle on the bottom left corner of the brain. There is on only about 100 cases worldwide every year, and it is more commonly found in children 10 years or younger.
As she continued to fight over the next 6 weeks, word got around of her condition. A facebook group was started called "Prayers for E.B. Johnson". The group has grown to just under 6,000 members as of this date. Prayers and support came flooding in from friends, family, and even strangers. Members of the group began to donate money to the Johnson family to help pay for the medical treatment. Troy University organizations started to contribute by collecting pop tabs to help the family pay for a room at the Ronald McDonald house. These organizations include Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity and the Theater Department. The amazing thing is these organizations had no idea who E.B. or her family was, but they were willing to help out any way they could.
Coach Blakeney called a team meeting the week before they left for Mobile and presented the idea of wearing the bracelets to the team. Everyone was willing to show there support for this little girl, especially Quarterback Levi Brown.
"It hit a nerve with me," Brown said. "There is a girl I go to church with back home. She had a brain tumor and has been fighting it for several years and she just died a few weeks ago."
One thing that Brown likes to do is write on his football cleats. Once he heard about E.B., he wrote E.B.J. on one side and Erin Brynn on the back of them. Brown is no stranger to stories like E.B.'s. He and few other players on the team visited the Children's Hospital while in Mobile. He also is interested in traveling to Africa to help out the children in Darfur. He believes the power of prayer rallies people around E.B. to let her know that she is not in this fight alone and that she will come out of this.
"Underprivileged children is where my passion is," Brown said. "Things happen to them and they have no way to control it. It's just unfortunate and I want to help them if I could."
Linebacker Bear Woods sent a football to E.B. when he heard of her situation. More and more things come to E.B. each day.
E.B. has continued to fight since the Trojans' bowl game. The doctors discovered she had suffered a stroke in the first surgery, and she will have to learn everything over again. She would have some good days to where her mother could hold her and some bad days to where she had trouble with her blood pressure and acid reflux. The doctors decided to perform another surgery on January 11 to give her a spinal tap and a port for her to begin chemo when the time is right. The surgery went well, with the exception of the spinal tap, because she did not have enough spinal fluid to draw off. The doctors scheduled an MRI for later that night and the family waited eagerly for the results.
The next morning, the family met with the doctors to discuss the future plans for E.B. They reported that E.B.'s tumor was completely gone because the stroke she suffered in the first surgery killed the cancer cells. Troy and Marla believed it was the power of prayer from all her supporters. She will start eight weeks of chemo and six weeks of radiation on January 25.
Doctors decided that E.B. was able to move out of PICU and into her own room in the hospital. They discovered that spinal tap/lumbar puncture showed no cancer cells in her spinal fluid. Again, the power of prayer had prevailed. E.B. has had many visitors come and go since she has been in the hospital, but her parents have never left her side. She continues to show improvement as she fights to full recovery.
The Johnson family will tell you the beautiful thing about prayer is that anyone can pray. Prayer is just as strong whether is comes from a pastor, family, friends, students, strangers or football players. Nobody knows how this unfortunate event will play out, but with the power of prayer, anything is possible and the Johnson family will take all of the prayers they can get.
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