Meet Bradan
Bradan was born in July of 2010. About 5 years after the doctors told us that we wouldn’t be able to have kids naturally. You could say that he is our, “Miracle Child.” The last two years with Bradan have been the best two years of our lives! He is such a beautiful, sweet little boy and we couldn’t have asked for more in a child.
On January 1st we noticed that Bradan had a little limp. The next morning when we went to get him out of his crib, he couldn’t walk. Within a day, our lives were changed forever. Bradan was diagnosed with a Malignant Extra Renal Rhabdoid Tumor. This tumor is very rare as only 5-15 kids a year get this in North America in a given year. The doctors tell us that this tumor is very aggressive and hard to treat. Also, they said that they don’t have a lot of good information about how to effectively treat it since it is so rare. On January 11th, 2013 Bradan had surgery to remove the tumor from his spinal canal and abdomen. After weeks in the hospital he was allowed to go home. While at home we tried to get his immune system built back up to be able to battle this cancer. On February 22nd, Bradan went in for an MRI and what they found was not good. In 5 weeks the tumor was back and not only had it doubled in size but now there were 2 tumors. On February 25th, Bradan had a second surgery to remove the tumors as the one on his spine threatened to paralyze him. This time the surgeons felt like this surgery wasn’t a success. Even though they were able to remove most of the 2 tumors they told us that they know there were a lot of cancer cells left behind.
We don’t know where to go from here. The medical doctors have given us a few options, none of which are good. We want to do whatever we can to save Bradan including looking into all alternative treatments. The financial burden placed on our family is a bit overwhelming. When we came home from the hospital there were thousands of dollars of medical bills already waiting for us. Insurance companies don’t cover any alternative treatments and they are very expensive. Tomorrow for instance, we have a one hour phone consultation with an alternative doctor that costs $545. I am laid off until April when the road construction season starts up again. My wife is a stay at home mom and we also have a 3 ½ month old daughter which makes things even more difficult with all that is going on right now.
Until you are living this nightmare you can’t begin to imagine the hurt you feel. Watching your child go through this, knowing that you don’t know what the future holds, is the by far the hardest thing that a parent could ever go through. We will do anything to help Bradan get through this. We appreciate the support that everyone has given us and we appreciate all support that we continue to get in the future.
Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts.
Roy and Monica
