Support for baby Grayson’s journey
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This is my 6 month old nephew Grayson. In early March, his eyes started jittering. At first, we thought it was maybe just his eyes adjusting to a new level of vision, or maybe he was on the road towards glasses. After a week and a half, my sister scheduled a doctors appointment.
They got in within a couple of days to see Dr.Aftab, who referred them to a paediatrician. Dr. Essalah got them in about two weeks later, and took a look at his head and eyes. He said that Grayson’s head seemed a little large so he wanted to get an ultrasound on it and to send him to an ophthalmologist to get his eyes reviewed.
A couple of hours later, my sister received a phone call. There was something concerning on Grayson’s ultrasound. They weren’t sure what it was, so he had to go for an MRI.
His MRI was scheduled for that following Thursday morning. The morning arrives, and our big strong baby did so well with going to sleep under anesthetics and having blood work done.
Thursday, March 11th at 9:45pm my sister got the worst phone call a mother could ever get. Dr. Essalah called her immediately after he saw and ruled out what was on Grayson’s MRI, and it was a brain tumour, which we have since found out is quite large. The doctors told my sister she saved his life. 2 more months, it would have been too late.
The next morning, the Neurosurgeon at the Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon called her and told her Monday morning they would have to go there and on Tuesday he would have a biopsy. 2 hours later she is getting another call saying they have to go to RGH for a spinal tap and another MRI but this time on Grayson’s spine. The oncologist, (Dr.Alvi) was the most amazing Doctor. She explained everything that would happen in detail and always made sure she kept my sister right up to date by the minute.
He did so well, once again & his daddy came to stay the night with him. The next morning, we find out there was no clear result on what the tumour is by the spinal tap. No answer. So game plan was still Saskatoon on Monday and we got to go home to get some last minute snuggles from everyone in our family before we were headed up.
Monday morning, they got to the children’s hospital and within a half hour both neurosurgeons were in the room telling them the plan for his biopsy the following morning. The doctors gave them the risks, the potential outcomes and fully explained how the biopsy will go.
On March 17, Gray went in for the biopsy. It went super smoothly and he had a tube placed in his head as a precaution incase his brain started to bleed. He only experienced some minor swelling and a small amount of blood, but on March 19th, decided it was time to clamp the tube to see how he does without it. If all goes well, he gets to come home until we receive biopsy results and an anticipated lengthy recovery/treatment plan. (Stay up to date on where we’re at with this journey in the updates. Posted daily!)
From here, we pray he heals well from his biopsy and we wait for the results which will take 2-4 weeks as one piece of his tumour is sent to Toronto, and the other half is tested in Saskatoon. Either way, the tumour is inoperable because it is sitting right on his optic nerve and is right beside a major artery. This means whether the tumour is malignant or benign, he will need chemo treatment (which can only be administered in Saskatoon) to try and remove the tumours in his brain and on his spine.
***ALL updates on Grayson will be posted to this page as his journey changes and continues.**
At this time, our family is just asking most importantly for your prayers, but also are asking for any type of financial support you’re able to offer to help support the ongoing financial costs of being in Saskatoon without any income as we prepare for a lengthy treatment plan.
For those who would prefer to E-transfer, please contact Kate at (306) [phone redacted] or reach out to me via social media.
For those who would prefer to E-transfer, please contact Kate at (306) [phone redacted] or reach out to me via social media.
Organizer
Kate Kozar
Organizer
Regina, SK