ZiRon celebration of life
ZiRon Leo Thomas was born April 30, 2010 to Eddie Thomas and Trenika Thomas. He has 3 brothers and a dog named Chanel. ZiRon is a very energetic little boy that touches the lives of everyone he meets. He is very intelligent and loves to make people laugh with joy. He is a very normal kid with big bright eyes along with a heart that warms the soul's of many. We received catastrophic news that completely turned our world upside down. ZiRon was diagnosed with DIFFUSE INFILTRATING PONTINE GLIOMA (DIPG) on April 8, 2014.
DIPG is an inoperable rare genetic tumor that is embedded in the brain stem of children. This disease causes Esotropia(crossing) of the eyes, functional loss of breathing, vision, hearing, talking, walking, swallowing and ultimately stop the heart as it progress. Cancer is the world's worst disease and DIPG is the worst of all the Cancers. This disease is not a fair disease for Doctor's claim that it is Universally Fatal due to the aggressive nature of the Glioma cancer cells. It is a very rare disease in that it only affects 300 children in the U.S. each year. While research is currently being conducted, its funding is severely limited due to the rarity of the disease.
When we learned of his diagnosis in 2014 at the MRI imaging clinic, we were immediately instructed to go to the emergency room at Scottish Rite due to the swelling in his brain. From the moment that we learned of his condition, we were in and out of hospital and clinics at least 5 days out of the week in 2014. It has been a very steep rollercoaster that carries our minds, emotions & spirits to extreme highs and lows.
We are a family of faith and God fearing, praising and loving. The Thomas family is exercising our faith by praying, underwent 2 rounds of radiation treatment at Emory, calling Doctors & hospitals around the country and putting in many hours of researching medical clinical trials targeting DIPG. As a blessing we found some treatments in Denver, Colorado. Where we moved selling everything and kept only needed items.
Fast forward we moved back home permanently in 2016 and have been staying with family. January 2017 ZiRon started showing signs of declining and couldnt continue school. Our family has split and while we(mommy and Daddy) are no longer together we are still a strong team when it comes to our children.
ZiRon no longer walks, talk, or swallow without choking. He has been sleeping most day only waking up about an 1 at the most and even then he is giggling at his brothers who are here entertaining him the moment he shows any sign of being woke.
Im raising funds to give ZiRon the celebration he deserves. He has been fighting DIPG brain cancer Never complaining. Never sad always smiling. ZiRon is a strong fighter and is mommy's hero. He is a hero to many and has gained friends from all over. Im Collecting money to asssist with bringing him smiles, final cost when that time comes and to ease the financial burden caused by cancer.
