Hello to all! My name is Renee and I am setting up the GoFundMe to help support the most amazing 11-year-old boy and his family get through his largest, most high-risk, and hopefully last surgery he’ll have to have. His name is Blake and his story starts out with him going to an eye exam after he was telling his mom Megan that his head hurt. At this appointment, their lives would change forever. After the exam was done, the ophthalmologist explained to Megan that Blake's right optic nerve was extremely swollen and that they needed to head to Children's ER in St. Paul to be evaluated. They told her to prepare for the worst as optic nerve swelling is most commonly a sign of a brain tumor. After countless tests and imaging over the next few weeks, a brain tumor was thankfully ruled out and Blake was diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension at 2 1/2 years old. What does that mean? Essentially, he has high amounts of pressure in his skull crushing his brain for no reason. Think about the most painful headache you’ve ever had and multiply it by 10. This is extremely rare for someone of his age. Blake had countless MRIs, blood tests, CTs, and multiple spinal taps before the doctors decided that it was time to place a shunt to help the fluid around his brain drain into his abdomen in an attempt to decrease the pressure around his brain. His first surgery to place the shunt was when he was just 3 years old. Since then, he’s had to have revisions every year to 6 months. Every time his shunt would fail, Blake’s headaches would return. During all of this, he was also diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 6. In November of 2022, another drain was placed in his neck to try and help drain fluid from his brain because his pressures were no longer dropping. Now just 6 months ago in May, Blake had his most recent revision after having an increase in headaches once again. However, he didn’t get the same relief he usually does. His neurosurgeon was starting to suspect that maybe Blake’s skull was too small for his brain based on his most recent MRI, which showed it being tight. By the time this school year started, Blake was back to having headaches every single day. Last week, Blake had his first nuclear MRI where they injected fluid into his shunt and watched through the MRI images to see if his shunt was still working and where the fluid was going. This test showed that his shunt was working which left the least favorable option which is that Blake's skull is no longer growing at the same rate as his brain. So what’s the next step? Blake is now scheduled for a cranial vault expansion in December of this year. What’s that? They are going to cut from ear to ear and essentially crack Blake’s skull open to give his brain more space. He will be in the ICU for 3-5 days out of his expected 7-day hospitalization. He will not be able to do any form of school work for at least 2 weeks and won’t be able to physically return to school for 6 weeks.

For at least 2 weeks, Jake (Blake’s dad) will need to take off of work which will put their family in a financial hardship right before Christmas. They are primarily a one-income household and rely heavily on Jake’s paychecks every week. Blake is the second oldest of his six siblings and also has a high-needs non-verbal autistic sister. So Blake’s dad being home when he returns from the hospital is essential in making sure that there is enough support so he’s able to recover without complication. It is vital that Blake not be hit in the head, pushed or fall in his first 6 weeks since his brain will be so vulnerable.

All of the donations will go towards Jake’s lost income, all the extra driving to and from the hospital, additional childcare for his sister so Megan is able to visit Blake while he’s at the hospital, meals to take some of the stress off cooking every night, and making sure that all of the kids still get a good Christmas. Even if all you are able to do is send a prayer for Blake to have a safe and healthy recovery, it will all be greatly appreciated by the family.