'Overwhelmed': Facing surgery for a brain tumor, a Cape Girardeau mother also deals with a house fire and looking for a new home

This Mother's Day will not easily be forgotten by Cape Girardeau resident Charisse Parrish. The 30-year-old single mother of two has gone through life-changing events lately -- a brain tumor that has doubled in size and a house fire that almost took her life.

"I'm overwhelmed right now," Parrish said, "so surgery on the tumor will just have to wait."

Now Parrish and her two children, Austin, 7, and Brittany, 9, are living in a small two-bedroom trailer in Cape Girardeau with Parrish's mother, hoping to find more suitable accommodations soon.

"There's no question Charisse needs a home," said Nancy Haggy, Parrish's mother. "... I do whatever I can do, but we've been checking into places in town and just can't seem to find an affordable home for her to live in. But this is the greatest Mother's Day of all for me because I have my only child alive and with me, and that's all that matters."

Dr. Sonjay Fonn, a neurosurgeon based in Cape Girardeau, has been treating Parrish's benign tumor, commonly known as meningioma, and said although it is not yet an emergency situation, it could become one.

"At this time it is a small size, about two centimeters in diameter," Fonn said. "But it has doubled in size since 2004, and this is something we are concerned about. Because it occurs in the brain and is continually growing, this can cause mass effects."

According to Fonn, immediate effects are seizures, migraine headaches and blurred vision. However, as the tumor continues to grow those may change.

Charisse Parrish's son Austin Smith celebrated his seventh birthday a few days before their home burned. The plastic was shriveled around the leftover cake Thursday.

"The fear is, as the tumor grows at this rate, it might take control," Fonn said. "At the current time there is some urgency to remove it, but we can wait for her personal issues to be resolved. However, we must remove the tumor before we no longer have control and it presents symptoms critical to life."

Parrish was scheduled for surgery April 25, the same day her apartment caught fire, but she had to cancel due to a sinus infection that could have caused complications.

"We have to take extra precautions when opening the skull that no infection is present," Fonn said. "At this time, the tumor is near major blood vessels in the brain and any surgery complication can cause the tumor to push on the brain stem. However, the surgery is a cure and the prognosis is good."

The fire

Neighbors Beverly and Wayne Hoover are light sleepers and quick to act.

"We looked out our window and saw the back of the house engulfed in flames," Wayne Hoover said. "I yelled at my son, Barrett, to go after anyone over there, knowing she has a couple of kids, and my wife called 911 immediately."

By both Hoover's and Parrish's account, Barrett Hoover was able to bang on Parrish's door hard enough while screaming to get her attention and get Parrish out of the burning house.

"When she opened the door, smoke just followed her out," Hoover said. "It was this thick, dark smoke. And I don't know how exactly we were able to get her attention, but we were, and that's what counts."

"Since the fire was coming up from the basement, I didn't hear anything," Parrish said. "I don't know what would've happened to me if it wasn't for Bev and Wayne. They really saved me and my son that night."

Parrish's mother is grateful, too.

"It would've been one sad Mother's Day for me if I would have lost her and my grandson," Haggy said. "I just don't know if I could've taken it. I told her we can replace everything in that fire, but we can't replace her. She's my only child."

Since that night Parrish has been attempting to put her life back together, but just stepping foot back in the charred place she once called home has been hard.

"I know that what I need to do now is dig up the remains of what I had in there and then see if anything is worth keeping underneath all of that," Parrish said. "I just thank God every day that my daughter was staying with my mother that night because it was her room that got hit the hardest by the fire. My son is taking it well, but he still sleeps with me every night because of nightmares about it."

Support of family, friends

Through everything, friends like Cape Girardeau native Ann Burchyett have helped and even admired Parrish.

"Last summer Charisse and I worked with two guys turning houses into apartments," Burchyett said. "This was a tough job in the extreme heat, mind you. Well, she worked circles around me and looked good doing it. Thing is, she worked circles around both of the guys, too, and they couldn't believe it. But that's the kind of person she is. If you met her today you wouldn't know she has any problems because she's all about doing things right. She's not going to just lie in bed all day."

Parrish's mother, a cancer survivor, said she tells her daughter to be strong and look to God for strength.

"I had surgery for cancer over 32 times, and the last time they told me they weren't sure if I was going to make it through," Haggy said. "But through the strength and support of God I did, and I want my daughter to know that she can as well."

Burchyett said Parrish needs help from as many sources as possible.

"I mentioned once that I know everyone has to die, so if I died today it wouldn't bother me because I've had my fun," Burchyett said. "Charisse looked at me with tears in her eyes and said 'I can't say that,' and it broke my heart."