Intelligencer Journal

Helping Hannah smile

Ill child has Christmas wish -- cards, and plenty of them

Hannah Garman wants to celebrate Christmas in a very big way.

But the plucky 4-year-old -- she will turn 5 in January -- was diagnosed in late October with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain tumor, in her cerebellum.

The prognosis, according to her grandmother, Shirley Garman, is not good. "The tumor is very aggressive," Mrs. Garman said. "It is not something they can take away."

The Garman family is working overtime not to dwell on grim reality. Mrs. Garman said they'd rather focus on the positive aspects of Christmastime.

And that means Christmas cards for Hannah.

Lots of Christmas cards.

It would mean the world to a little girl who wants to play and jump and run but has lost most of her basic motor skills.

"She's basically lying in bed," Mrs. Garman said Wednesday. "She's not the same little girl she was."

Hannah has always liked to play, the proud grandmother said. "She ran like the wind. She didn't like to lie around; this is hard because she was always so active."

But now -- despite three surgeries and other treatments at Johns Hopkins and Hershey medical centers and plans to begin chemotherapy and radiation treatments later this month -- the Garmans are measuring Hannah's remaining time in weeks.

And they want to make sure those weeks are good ones.

"Three or four days ago, her spirits were very low," Mrs. Garman said. "But now she's happy and smiling. She's been like a changed girl through all of this. But some of it's coming back.

"She's just a sweetheart."

Opening Christmas cards is "one thing she can do," Mrs. Garman said. "She's a little stronger, and she's ripping them open herself. She loves looking at the pictures, and we read every card to her."

Hannah's family -- father Darin and siblings Jordan, 9, and Brittany, 12 -- lives in Lititz. Hannah lives close by with her grandparents, Shirley and Bob Garman, who provide care while Hannah's dad is working. Hannah's mother died two years ago of breast cancer.

The family has already received about 700 cards. Hannah's room is filled with them.

Many more will be presented to Hannah this evening at a gathering at Lititz Area Mennonite School.

"I've heard 30 fire trucks are coming," Mrs. Garman said.

According to an announcement from Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center, 25 to 30 fire and other emergency-response vehicles will gather outside the hospital at 6:30 p.m. before proceeding in a convoy to the school with "thousands and thousands" of cards to deliver to Hannah.

Warwick Township police will escort the caravan, and many county residents will ride along to deliver their cards in person.

Additional cards can be mailed to Hannah Garman at 704 Orchard Road, Lititz, PA, 17543.

E-mail: tknapp@lnpnews.com