For Jessica Hall of Aledo, the phrase "welcome home" doesn't seem to fully capture the moment, but it will have to do.

REX C. CURRY/Special Contributor

Jessie Hall's family says she is the same happy girl she was before surgery.

The 6-year-old brain surgery patient is scheduled to return to North Texas from Baltimore tonight after undergoing a radical procedure last month to remove the right half of her brain.

"Jessie," as she is known to family and friends, suffers from Rasmussen's Encephalitis, a rare disease that slows mobility and eats away at the brain. It is most common in children younger than 10 and is usually characterized by seizures.

She underwent the risky procedure – called a hemispherectomy – on June 11. Renowned pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson at Johns Hopkins Children's Center performed the surgery, which is hoped will make her seizure-free.

But her family – parents Cris and Kristi Hall and older brothers, Matt, 10, and twins Jake and Josh, 8 – say that despite the trauma, Jessie is still the same.

"She's an outgoing, happy, playful girl. She loves to tell jokes," Mr. Hall said by phone from Maryland. "She's just a normal little 6-year-old girl."

Following the surgery, Jessie spent five days in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and seven days in the regular children's ward. On June 24, she was moved to the Kennedy Kreiger Institute to begin occupational, physical and speech therapy at its inpatient rehabilitation center.

"Right now, we're working in rehab so she can walk again," Mr. Hall said. "But she's in a good mood and in good spirits."

Jessie will continue therapy at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth upon her return. Therapy should continue to help her re-learn to walk without assistance.

"I can't think of anything more exciting than seeing her walk out of Cook Children's in a week," said Mr. Hall. "Two weeks. Whenever that happens."

While Mr. Hall acknowledges on the blog he maintains for his daughter's supporters to track her recovery that "Jessie still has a long way to go," he is quick to point out that his brave little girl has already come so far. Jessie can now walk with assistance, ride a special rehab bike and talk coherently. Her parents, along with her doctors, expect her to keep improving every day.

Although Jessie might have a slight limp and her left arm won't be quite like everyone else's, Mr. Hall said he and his wife plan for Jessie to begin first grade at Stuard Elementary in August. For her parents, it's just another step in their daughter's progress.

"No one is setting any limitations for her," said Mr. Hall. "We expect her to graduate high school and college and live a normal life."

Mr. and Mrs. Hall have told Jessie she is coming back to a hospital in Texas, but they haven't told her that it's one so close to her Aledo home. Still, just getting back to the Lone Star State is "a very big deal for her," Mr. Hall said.

And for Jessie's many supporters as well.

"We're very excited," said Caren Jennings, a neighbor and family friend. "For something that seemed so invasive, something that I had never heard of before, the fact that she's alive and doing as well as she is is very exciting."