Douglaston Girl To Meet President

Three years after doctors feared for the life of Melinda Kostaskis, the shy nine-year-old from Douglaston is being honored as a very brave and very lucky girl.
In January 2000, doctors at Schneider Childrens Hospital diagnosed her with a non-malignant brain tumor. The successful emergency surgery that removed a plum-sized tumor, which had been pressing on optical nerves, saved her eyesight and her life.
Because of her strength and courage during the ordeal, Melinda has been chosen as the 2003 Champion for New York by the International Order of Foresters and the Childrens Miracle Network (CMN). Both Foresters and CMN are dedicated to generating public awareness on behalf of childrens hospitals; Foresters sponsors many CMN programs.
"Melinda is a true inspiration and a champion to us all," said Dr. Alan Rosenthal, the surgeon who removed her tumor. "She was a very brave patient. I congratulate her and her mother."
"I want to thank Dr. Rosenthal," Melinda said, "because he saved my life.
The Kostaskis family is scheduled to fly to Washington DC to meet President George W. Bush and other children chosen for the program.
Children are selected based on the kinds of things they have overcome and their need to be with other survivors. Some Champions have beaten leukemia, heart defects, serious injury from auto accidents and muscular dystrophy. In gathering, they form a support network that includes their families.
Afterward, Foresters flies the families to Walt Disney World, Orlando, for a five-day vacation.
"Our family has been through a bad situation," said Melindas mother, Christina Kostaskis. "We have learned a lot. We are a lot closer now. We have learned to appreciate every little thing."
Melinda is one of three daughters who came with their parents to the United States from Athens, Greece, when she was two years old.
"I was only really scared when I went to surgery," she said.
Still, hospital rooms can be lonely places.
"I missed the food at home, and I missed my dog."
"Hope and have faith," is the advice she offers to children who are fighting serious illness. "Trust your doctors, because theyre smart."
As for advice to parents, Christina Kostaskis added, "There is an old Greek saying: Hope dies last."