#TeamJalen

My name is Hannah Manns and this is our story of #TeamJalen. About a year and a half ago, Jalen started experiencing some health issues. As a mother I never knew just how hard it is to seek help for your child. It started with headaches, I took him to the dr several times and all we kept getting was that they were caused by stress. I didn’t understand how my 7 year old was so stressed that it was causing these horrible headaches that just took everything out of him. Time went by and some mental health issues arose followed by night terrors and night time anxiety. Anxiety so bad he only gets about 2-3 hours of sleep every night. We changed his pediatrician as we knew something was not right. He started seeing a psychiatrist, psychologist, he does counseling/therapy 2 hours a week,  he sees a sleep specialist and he goes to the Autism Center at Navicent. It became so overwhelming I chose to quit my job and stay home because I knew my child needed to come first. As a mom, I kept doing my research because I knew something was not right. I requested an MRI of Jalens brain, they told me they didn’t see it medically necessary. For 7 months they kept denying it, I kept fighting. I sat down and had a heart to heart with his pediatrician as she explained she was going to submit for a sedated urgent MRI but I had to sign a waiver understanding insurance would either deny it or not cover it, 4 days later I got a call that insurance gave us a PA and we only had 30 days to schedule. I took the first available which was on May 23. On May 23 he was so upset about missing the last day of school, I explained to him this had to be done, we got in the car, I held his hand, took a deep breath a we prayed. I stood over Jalen as they sedated him, prayed with the anesthesiologist and kissed him before I went out to the waiting room. They came and got me and told me everything went well and I’d get the results within 3-5 days. As I was loading Jalen in the car my phone rang and it was his pediatrician calling to let me know she had the results of his MRI and she needed me to come to the office immediately to discuss some things and suggested that I did not bring Jalen. My heart sank, my mind was all over the place. I wanted to break down but I could not let him see him upset. I sat and talked with the Dr as she explained they found something called a Thalamic Glioma (brain tumor). I hit the floor. I didn’t know how to feel, what to think, I just felt numb. We are currently seeing a neurologist and a pediatric neurosurgeon. Medical bills have started coming in and I am already overwhelmed with everything going on. I have accepted Jalens surgery will not be close to home and that also overwhelms me but I know I have to do what’s best for Jalen. We chose today to proceed forward with the biopsy we are just waiting on a date and time. They explained that it is extremely high risk because of where it sits in the brain and that this particular brain tumor is extremely rare. We have a long road ahead of us but I am ready to take on whatever comes our way. I ask that you all continue to pray for my son and our family and we thank each and every one of you for your donations as it will help with medical bills, finances and to get the things Jalen needs to make him as comfortable as possible during his hospital stay! #TeamJalen