Kyra has always been very active in sports. She loved dumping water on her head during softball or soccer games. The beginning of 2017, She started putting on some weight and drinking water with an unquenchable thirst. She also started having stomach pains. At first, I thought it was an age-appropriate time for “cramps”. My mother disagreed and I took her to the doctor to investigate. At first, they said it was a stomach blockage, but nothing changed. They did a full blood panel and found out that her sodium level was severely low. They requested we bring her in immediately for a CT scan to make sure that she wasn’t having any seizures. The results were “no seizures, but we found a mass in her brain”.
She has had two rounds of chemotherapy separated by a round of 33 radiation treatments in the middle. During the second round of chemotherapy, Kyra went almost 3 weeks without eating, She lost a lot of weight and muscle mass. She was almost bedridden and could barely walk.
After that, she pushed herself to eat and get “back to where she was.” She wanted to play soccer and softball again. Due to the treatments and recovery thereof, she has gained back more weight than she is happy with. So we have been researching and reaching out to nutritionists, dieticians, trainers, etc.Â
We are also working with her on finding exercises for the mind. Helping her find tips or tricks to studying and remembering things that she will need to remember. It has taken extra work to help her develop her speech as she grows up. She has had difficulty maturing her speech due to memory retention. Sometimes her mouth and brain work at different speeds.
While Kyra was going through treatments, I found out that my business partner was embezzling, so our company folded up. It was a blessing and stressor. I didn’t have to worry about the business or disappointing clients, but now I had financial worries. We have been able to make things work. We live with my mother, and she was gracious enough to help with whatever we needed. She has been instrumental in Kyra’s journey.
Kyra is the strongest person I know. She looks at me as if I am strong and brave and I know that she tries to emulate that. But when we first found out about the tumor in her brain, her response was “Ok, what now? How do we get rid of it?” I remember being blown away. Like I usually have that response to breaking down on the highway or my power going out, and my 11 year old was just told about cancer in her brain and she just squinted, took a breath, and basically said, let’s do this.Â
She has never lost her light. I named her Kyra because it means Sun Goddess. She has been a shining example of her name. Even during treatment, she asked the nurses how they were doing, greeted people with a smile, joke, or a story. She is always smiling and trying to spread joy.
Jacob was diagnosed with Ependymoma in May 2023. Before his diagnosis, we noticed that the left side of Jacob’s face had started drooping. We took him in to see his pediatrician and they also noticed some weakness on the entire left side of his body and they ordered an MRI. A few days later we had an MRI that revealed a tumor in his brain.
After his surgery and finding out that what he had was an Ependymoma we started preparing for him to go through treatment. The treatment that he needed was Proton Radiation Therapy, so this meant that we had to relocate to Seattle for about 8 weeks.
This time was hard for our family mainly because we weren’t together all the time during this. Our younger kids stayed home with grandparents, and I would also try to alternate weeks between being home with our younger kids and being in Seattle with Jacob and my husband. Jacob handled the treatment very well for the most part, he struggled at times with being away from a lot of family members and friends. Luckily Jacob didn’t seem to experience a lot of side effects other than losing hair in the area where he was getting the radiation.
Going through all of this has completely changed our outlook on life. We really value all of the moments that we have together as a family and we don’t take anything for granted.
Melody is a very smart and mature for her age. She is silly, creative, and brave. Things that make her smile are anything that is silly from dances to jokes. She definitely loves arts and crafts, playing games on her iPad ( mainly Roblox), watching movies, playing with her sister, anything to do with Pokemon, shopping, and eating with family.
Melody was diagnosed with spinal cord anaplastic ependymoma (grade 3 tumor) in February of 2021. She started having leg pain and losing function and sensation for almost a year before her diagnosis.
She has had surgery twice, had proton radiation, and is now in a clinical trial. The most struggles we’ve had are not having normality in life, watching Melody struggle and be in pain, and the financial burden. For the time being, Melody is unable to walk and requires the use of a wheelchair.
This has been a great struggle both physically and mentally. Though I know that Melody is going through more than I am she is so much stronger than me and my wife. She has taught us a lesson about being more courageous and more faithful to God. Also, it has changed our perspective in life to know that everyone has their own struggles that they are trying to hide such as us.
Because Melody is too smart for her own good she has very deep thoughts. She has questions that I can’t answer though she has great faith in God. Through her hard times after both surgeries she went through a trauma stage where she would wake up in the middle of the night crying. But through pain and resilience she has overcome many obstacles, more than many many people can ever imagine. In her good times, she is a pleasure and blessing to be around. She is very silly and loves to joke around, especially with those she feels comfortable with. She is loving and caring towards me, my wife, and her little sister that she loves dearly. She will always be my Sweet Melody!
Isaiah is well known for his love of trucks! If you’ve never met him, bring him a truck and you will win his heart! He also loves playing with his big sister and his dog.
Isaiah was diagnosed with a brain tumour in February 2021. Prior to his diagnosis, he was vomiting out of the blue. It took three ER visits and five doctors before they finally did a CT scan and found the mass on his brain.
Isaiah underwent surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and hyperbaric chamber treatments over the course of a year. Sadly, we just found out the tumours have now spread. Additionally, his walking is quite unstable and he needs assistance on uneven ground.
Our entire life has changed. We’ve changed what we eat and tried to eliminate as many toxins from our home as we can.
Isaiah has endured so much through his treatments, but he always has room for smiles, hugs, and giggles. He was a true warrior through it all and I will always admire his strength and tenacity.
Rosie is a silly, quirky child. She can be shy when meeting new people but can become quite the life of the party once comfortable. She loves unicorns and mermaids and Jojo Siwa. She is also obsessed with babies and her baby cousin Sophie, her favorite person in the world.
In May 2021, Rosie began vomiting every morning when she woke up. At first, her doctor thought she had reflux. As the summer months went on, the vomiting worsened, happening multiple times each day. Rosie felt so ill that she stopped eating. She was referred to a GI doctor and a psychiatrist. But in September, she had become so weak she could barely walk. We took her to the ER at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, where she was immediately diagnosed with brain cancer (Ependymoma).
Rosie had surgery to remove the tumor the day after she was diagnosed. Once recovered, she then completed 33 rounds of proton radiation, followed by four rounds of chemotherapy. The biggest struggle for our family now is just healing from this experience. Rosie struggles with anxiety. Her older sister still struggles with the loss of who her sister was prior to this diagnosis and because she still requires a significant amount of care, her siblings often don’t get the same amount of attention. We are trying to heal as a family, but it is a slow process.
Rosie has permanent hearing loss as a result of the chemo and now has hearing aids. She is also in physical therapy to regain her strength and coordination and has a Mic-key button to supplement her nutrition.
Finn was diagnosed with cancer in November 2021. He was a healthy boy. He never had any major health problems until one day on October 26th, 2021 when he had a seizure, all of a sudden. We were having a walk in the forest when all of this happened and it was a real adventure until we got to the emergency room.
One week later we got the MRI results and it showed this 7cm brain tumor. It was successfully removed on the 9th of November and 2 weeks later we got the biopsy result and it showed an ependymoma grade 2. It was a short but long road until we got to St Jude on Christmas day.
Our lives completely changed since October but we are doing the best we can.
Finn is half Romanian and half American so he speaks both languages. He is always active, always so curious, he enjoys playing outside with other kids, he LOVES dinosaurs and building Legos. His favorite movie is Cars and in our free time, we take him to the zoo. It’s one of his favorite places to go.
