Kindergarten is taking a backseat to a grueling new fight with relapsed brain cancer for this 5-year-old boy. His family is hoping we can all say a prayer for Mick.
Kindergarten is taking a backseat to a grueling new fight with relapsed brain cancer for this 5-year-old boy. His family is hoping we can all say a prayer for Mick.
Because just days ago, doctors told his mom to prepare for something no parent can possibly be ready for.
They feared Mick could die within two days.
They encouraged his family to come to the hospital to say goodbye.
That was 10 days ago.
His mom Alison reached out to me after what was supposed to be an exciting August for her little boy turned into another fight for his life.
Mick has been battling medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer, and was supposed to finish maintenance chemotherapy this month.
His kindergarten orientation was August 10th.
His family believed cancer treatment was finally nearing its end and Mick could start doing the things a 5-year-old should be doing.
Going to school.
Making new friends.
Playing soccer and hockey.
Instead, about two weeks ago, Mick began complaining about slight headaches.
Alison took him to the emergency room, where a CT scan looked good and they returned home.
The very next day, Mick had a seizure.
An ambulance rushed him back to the hospital.
Alison says an MRI showed concerning findings involving his brain and spine, and a spinal tap confirmed the news his family desperately did not want to hear:
Mick’s cancer had returned.
Then the seizures began coming back-to-back.
A surgeon placed a shunt, and the family hoped Mick could be transferred to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to begin proton radiation.
But once they arrived, another CT scan showed the swelling in Mick’s brain had become significantly worse.
He was rushed into surgery.
Alison says surgeons removed a piece of his skull to give his brain room to swell and placed a drain to remove additional fluid.
Then came the conversation that shattered this mom.
Doctors prepared Alison for the possibility that Mick might not survive.
She says they told her he could pass away within two days and encouraged the family to bring loved ones in to say goodbye.
But 10 days later, Mick is still fighting.
His family doesn’t yet know how much neurological damage Mick may have suffered.
Alison says they won’t truly know until he wakes up enough to show them what he can do.
“I just want my boy back.”
So let’s help Alison do what she reached out to me hoping we would do.
Say a prayer for Mick.
Pray that he wakes up.
Pray for healing in his brain and body.
Pray that this little boy who has already fought through so much continues defying the odds in front of him.
If your child or someone you love has survived frightening odds after doctors prepared your family for the worst, please share that story below.
