Dr Pasquale Gallo 2016-11-01 Person 5 5 0

My daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumour at RACH in 2015 and we were immediately transferred to Edinburgh for her to have surgery the next day. When we arrived in Edinburgh there was not an intensive care bed so her operation had to be postponed. We found Mr Gallo very reassuring and confident as he had to change the plan for the tumour removal and talked us through how initially operating on the hydrocephalus and fitting an access device would be beneficial to our daughter as it meant when they went in to remove the tumour the operation would be less complicated with the pressure already removed. After many helpful discussions sometimes repeating information he had told us at our request (we were in shock and it was hard to take it all in) we trusted him and knew he was confident in this plan would actually work better for our daughter in the long run. We saw him before and after both operations and regularly while waiting for the results of the tumour removal and he explained in detail the results of her first MRI scan and how positive the initial scan was. Anything we asked or did not understand he made sure we went over it until it sunk in and he was able to give us the news the tumour was benign and slow growing and that the very small area visible in her scan might even disperse over time. The relief was immense and we were discharged back to RACH not long after her operation when her initial sickness had stopped and they were sure there were no post operative issues. We are now in the care of RACH but we know that Mr Gallo would happily answer any queries we have and has promptly replied to any concerns I have had. Also we know that Mr Gallo is part of the team that reviews scans that our daughter will have every 6 months. At the time in shock as a parent you don't initially appreciate how much trust we had in Mr Gallo and we are so glad that our daughter had his and the extended teams support during the weeks we were at the sick kids hospital.