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.
Hope session by Photos by EJ Russell | Facebook