Bennie is the happiest baby around, he literally lights up any room he is in. 

When he began acting irritable and inconsolable we knew something wasn’t right. After taking him to his pediatrician and then to the er twice, we finally demanded answers (this process was about a week) once we told the er we weren’t leaving until someone did some tests we were then admitted for extreme dehydration. Also, there was a huge hurricane set to hit our area in just a matter of hours. After much discussion and back and forth a CT was ordered at midnight Aug 30. By 230am we got the news no parent wants. There’s a huge mass on your child’s brain and we’re ill equipped to deal with this so we’ve put orders in to have you transferred, but unfortunately we have to wait for the hurricane to pass. 

Miracles happened. The hurricane came through and didn’t cause much damage to our area and we were able to be life flighted to a hospital much better equipped to deal with Bennies case. From the moment of arrival it was all hands on deck. Moments after arriving an EVD was placed to remove fluid off his brain to give some relief so an MRI could be performed. By the next morning Aug 31st, a 10 1/2 hr tumor resection occurred. Unfortunately the followup MRI showed even more mass that was hidden by the original mass and a second 11hr surgery was performed on sept 7. 

While there is still a 7mm piece left of SHH medulloblastoma, we are hopeful our boy will beat this! We started chemo today (Oct 4th) after having two surgeries for his port (one failed so we had a central line placed yesterday). This 10 month old boy has been through more than most adults I know! He is a true warrior, and although I know we have a long road ahead of us, I am hopeful we will beat this!! 

Thank you for choosing to donate to The Cure Starts Now Foundation. 100% of this donation, after credit card processing fees, goes directly towards research to find the homerun cure for cancer starting with pediatric brain cancer research.

If you would like to make a donation by mail please send a check to:  The Cure Starts Now Foundation; 10280 Chester Road; Cincinnati, OH 45215 and put the child's name in the memo.

The family receives notification of all donations made to this tribute fund automatically.