Team Marcel Garcia

After weeks of balance, headaches, vomiting and vision issues, on July 9, 2014, our oldest son, Marcel was rushed to Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) after a CT scan revealed a brain tumor in the cerebellum.  On July 11, Marcel underwent a six-hour surgery to remove a large portion of the tumor.  The tumor was determined to be Stage IV Medulloblastoma, an aggressive cancerous tumor. Marcel spent 12 days in the hospital recovering and two weeks at Kennedy Krieger Institute to receive occupational, physical and speech therapy.  On August 1, Marcel had a minor surgery to insert a small port in his chest to access for chemotherapy drugs and to perform blood draws and also had a Lumbar Puncture to test his spinal fluid for cancer cells. The results were negative which meant his cancer had not spread! Marcel was able to go home. A second surgery to remove the remaining tumor was scheduled for August 18.  On August 15, Marcel began complaining of a headache and started vomiting.  An MRI revealed he was suffering from hydrocephalus, an increase of spinal fluid in the ventricles of the brain.   The doctors were able to alleviate this with medication and kept him calm and stable until his scheduled surgery on Monday. His surgery lasted 4 hours and the remaining tumor was successfully removed. Marcel recovered from the surgery and went home on August 29.  On August 30, Marcel woke up with an excruciating headache with vomiting and an MRI revealed severe hydrocephalus and emergency surgery was performed to place a permanent shunt to drain the excess spinal fluid from his brain down to his stomach.  On September 10, Marcel began round 1 of 30 rounds of radiation therapy to his head, neck and spine. On October 28, Marcel successfully completed his 30 rounds.  On November2, Marcel essentially stopped eating and became dehydrated.  His weight reached an all-time low of 61 lbs. On November 7, Marcel had surgery to place a feeding tube and Marcel quickly gained weight.  His doctor called him a feeding tube rockstar! On December 12, chemo cycle 1 of 9 began.   As of January 30, 2015, Marcel is handling chemo very well.  July 9, 2014 certainly changed our world but we refuse to give up. Please pray for our little guy to have strength and endurance to kick this cancer right out of his body!  Support him in any way you can!  Humble thanks to everyone!