It all started with Jimmy's behavior. He began to get in trouble on a daily basis and his dad and I did not know what to make of it. Then the sickness started... constant vomiting with no explanation. I remember the school nurse chastising me because I didn't wait 24 hours before sending him back to school after a stomach virus. The Pediatrician had told me it wasn't a virus. Finally the one Pediatrician in our group who thought beyond the box sent us for a CAT
scan. We were then sent for an MRI,and right from the MRI office we were immediately sent to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Jimmy was diagnosed with a Medulloblastoma brain tumor the evening of the MRI -November 29, 2005. He was then scheduled for the first surgery on December 1,2005. After a 3 hour surgery, the tumor was successfully 100% resected and donated to science. It was diagnosed as cancerous and thus began our journey through radiation and chemotherapy. The most vivid recollection I have was halfway through radiation (which made him sicker than chemotherapy), and I was combing his hair after a shower.
It completely came out in clumps and was leaving bald spots everywhere. It upset me more than everything else we had gone through... it's funny how it is really the little things that get you. We have finally completed our chemotherapy treatments and are now trying to find some normalcy as a family again. Ultimately we are so blessed and thankful to still have him.
(Jimmy’s Mom, Margie)
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