 Christine, Marc & Justin - before Marc was dx'd. Hello my name is Christine and my son Marc has Medulloblastoma.He was born on August 22, 1996. It was a normal pregnancy, labor, and delivery. He grew and learned to walk, along wil all the other "enormal" milestones. He had no serious medical problems aside from ear infections Starting in February of 1999, we noticed a change in him. He was having alot of trouble with walking straight and with stairs. He was falling down all the time. At first I just chalked it up to being an active two year old. He was covered with bruises and bumps. Finally on March 17, 1999, I called his pediatrican and said he had to be seen. Later that morning we went to see the doctor and he checked his ears and he had a double ear infection. My doctor said that his lack of coordiantion could be due to the ear infection but it could also be a mass. He wanted a CT scan done and he wanted it done NOW! That night my mother came to my house because I was extremely nervous and she wanted to come with me to the scan. He went in for the scan the next morning at 8 a.m. The nurses were singing Sesame Street songs to Marc to keep him calm. After they finished the scan they gave us the film and sent us over to our doctor's office. I was very tempted to look at the films myself but my mom talked me out of it. We went into a small room in the back of the doctor's office and waited for the doctor. As soon as he waked into the room I knew that it was bad news. I was holding my younges son, Justin when he told us that Marc had a large mass in the back of his brain. I slowly got up, walked across the room and put Justin down. Then I collapsed into my mother's arms. I just could not believe it. As far as I knew - that was a death sentence. Our pediatrican made us an appointment with a neurosurgeon at Children's Hospital in Boston, MA before he had come into the room to tell us the dx. We were at CH by 2:00 that afternoon. Our neurosurgeon, Dr Michael Scott recommened surgery for the next morning. It was so fast that my head was spinning. I agreed to the surgery and we were immediately admitted to 9 North. They did an MRI that nignt along with the usual pre-op stuff. I did not sleep one wink that night. He went into surgery at 8:00 a.m. the next morning - March 19, 1999. They told us it would take 6 hours or more. After only 3 hours, Dr. Scott came out and I almost dropped dead right there on the spot. I thought he brought bad news. I was wrong. He told us that the surgery went very well and that they were able to remove ALL of the tumor!!! I wanted to jump and yell!!!  Marc - after his surgery to remove the brain tumor.  Marc at the Jimmy Fund Clinic - April 1999  Marc May 99 - in the hospital. After his surgery Marc could not walk for 2 weeks. Now he is walking, running, jumping, and causing trouble again! He still needs some PT and we have a long road ahead of us with chemo but he is alive and I wouldn't trade him for all the money in the world. Because of his young age he cannot get radiation so he is just getting 4 different chemo drugs. One of the side effects of one of them is sterility and another causes hearing damage but he is here and I love him.  Marc & Justin May 99.  Marc -May 99. 
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