Her Nose Knows the Importance of Children's Hospital

But removing the entire septum was a last resort. They continued to probe the tumor. They looked at it on the screen and poked to feel the difference in texture where healthy tissue gave way to cancerous tissue.

"Is that our stalk?" Dr. Shah asked, confident he had found where the growth was attached. "Wonderful. Go straight back on your tumor. . . . Let's go step by step. This is what we waited a month for, guys."

With a careful snip of a pair of scissors, the tumor slithered out. Shah was shocked at the size: as big as a man's thumb.

He turned to a nurse. "Can you call the parents and tell them the tumor's out?" he said. "We're very lucky."

Three Months Later

Pathologists at Children's determined that the growth was benign. Amber went home the next day. Three months later, her mother, Stacie, said, "She's like a brand new kid."

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My blog, "John Kelly's Commons": http://voices.washingtonpost.com/commons. My e-mail: kellyj@washpost.com.