Name: Bret
Diagnosis: ependymoma (brain tumor)
Home state: Missouri
Bret’s parents sat in their son’s hospital room, fretting over what to do. Their 19-month-old son’s double ear infection seemed to have grown worse.
“We thought our big decision was Bret needing tubes in his ear,” his mother Kelli said. But when a team of doctors came into her son’s room, she knew the decision was going to be something bigger.
Kelli initially refused to sit down when doctors asked her. “No,” she remembered telling them, “just tell me what’s wrong.” The doctors explained that Bret had a large tumor on his brain and surgery needed to be done immediately to remove it. “Somehow, I sat down,” she said, recalling the shock. “You never expect you’re going to hear your child has a massive brain tumor. It’s your baby. You never think it’s going to happen to you. It’s the worst feeling in the world.”
Within the hour, Bret was being readied for a five-hour surgery to remove the tumor. Afterward, his doctor referred him to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® for follow-up treatment to prevent the tumor from returning.
At St. Jude, Bret received radiation treatments, and all seemed to be going well. But in September 2003, a scan revealed the tumor had returned. Bret underwent a second surgery that removed the cancer, but took its toll on the little boy. After three weeks, Bret was able to walk again.
Today, Bret runs strong all day, Kelli said, not even taking naps. It exhausts her, she said, but she is thrilled to see her son running, playing and being himself again. Bret likes playing baseball and he became a big fan of the Memphis AAA baseball team during his stay in Memphis.
So far, Bret’s scans have come back normal. “We are taking it scan to scan,” Kelli said. “In between the scans is the hard part.”
