Local 12-year old diagnosed with rare and aggressive form of brain cancer

A photo of Caellum after surgery | Caellum’s Brain Cancer Fund Crowdfunder page ROBERTS — On July 19, parents JayC and Kaylene Hedbon came face to face with the unimaginable when their 12-year old son, Caellum, started exhibiting symptoms typically associated with a stroke. After a night spent vomiting, Caellum had feeling lost on his right side and was unable to talk. The Hebdons took him to the emergency room and after a CT scan, doctors found a large tumor in his brain that was bleeding. “We were in shock, to say the least. Caellum has always been perfectly healthy. Now we didn’t know if he’d survive the night,” said the Hebdons in an update posted to their Crowdfunder page. Caellum was taken by air ambulance to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, where surgeons performed life-saving surgery, removing a “tangerine sized” tumor and stopping the bleeding. Caellum had to receive a second surgery, but so far it appears both operations were successful. Caellum is in recovery. After the surgeries, Caellum had symptoms commonly associated with brain surgery. “He had aphasia out of the second surgery — aphasia being loss of word usage or confusion,” said JayC. “He had a lot of repetition, like (he would) repeat things like, ‘I have to go to the bathroom,’ when that’s not what he meant. There were things like that, and we couldn’t get out of those cycles until we distracted him with other information, which is pretty common with brain surgeries.” After the surgeries and time, though, Caellum’s parents say he is starting to act and feel more like himself again. He has regained his ability to walk and use his right hand through various forms of physical therapy. Caellum during physical therapy | Courtesy JayC Hedbon Caellum is set to be released from intensive care soon, but his road to recovery hasn’t reached its end yet. Caellum was diagnosed with diffused hemispheric glioma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer, an H3G34 mutation that typically affects adolescents and young adults. Caellum and his parents are still awaiting genetic testing to get more information, but JayC said Caellum will have to begin radiation and chemo treatment starting in a few weeks. The average life expectancy for someone with this type of brain cancer is 17 to 22 months. “We found out yesterday that he qualifies for Make-a-Wish,” said JayC. “The oncologist were telling us that recovery seems better after Make-a-Wish because the morale is more, so more often there’s more fight to keep going and making it.” If you are able to donate, even just a small amount, you can visit Caellum’s Brain Cancer Fund on the Crowdfunder page here. “We’re willing to throw whatever money we can possibly get or that we have to make sure that he lives as long and as happy as possible,” JayC said. Caellum’s family shaved their heads in support. | Courtesy JayC Hedbon The post Local 12-year old diagnosed with rare and aggressive form of brain cancer appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com