Brantley loves to laugh at funny faces, and jokes! He loves any kind of action and action figures, especially spiderman! We were pretending to spin and sling webs all over the falls. He loved making the sound effects! We were all very excited about Brantley making a wish before he let go of the gold balloons. He really thought about it, too! He took his time and then we all counted down from 3…it was so precious to watch him watch the balloons float up to the sky.
On March 31st, 2016 he was diagnosed with diffused intrinsic pontine glioma or DIPG. DIPG is terminal upon diagnosis. There is no cure and no proven effective treatments. Finding out that your child has terminal brain cancer after living a healthy five years is incredibly hard and devastating. Leading up to his diagnosis he was not able to see, couldnt’t balance well, couldn’t swallow and would slur his speech. Brantley is receiving radiation and taking a research trial chemotherapy pill twice a day. He has routine MRI’s and CT scans to compare any tumor growth.
You would not know that Brantley was sick at all. He is such an energetic and inquisitive little boy. He loves to explore and discover on his own. As he squatted down near the water’s edge, he just looked at the water and marveled at it, touching it ever so slightly, watching it ripple. We counted the gold rocks we found in the sand and he stacked them with a big smile on his face. He is a child filled with joy, for sure!
Hope Session by Karrie B Fine Art. website | facebook | instagram