Support Bowen's Battle Against a Rare Brain Tumor

We are reaching out to you with heavy hearts and hopeful spirits to support our brave Bowen Matthew, A.K.A “B”.

Bowen is a 6 year old boy obsessed with science and dinosaurs, a lover of crafts and making Lego flower sculptures with Mommy, pulling magic trick pranks on sissy, goofing off with Mom and doing science experiments with Gramma and Grampa.

Bowen is a beam of sunshine, a superhero in everyone’s lives, but our Iron Man is facing a daunting and challenging task.

Bowen has been diagnosed with Craniopharyngioma, an extremely rare and challenging brain tumor located on the pituitary gland.

Because of the location of the tumor treatment options are extremely limited and he will likely have to undergo brain surgeries for the rest of his life.

In January of 2024 B was being treated for what they thought was a slow developing eye as he was beginning to lose vision in his left eye.

With his condition worsening he was seen for a second opinion by an Ophthalmologist who noticed something off during his exam. He was immediately taken for an MRI and that's when we learned of the devastating news that our sweet boy has a rare brain tumor. B was immediately admitted into Phoenix Children's Hospital where we learned his life will never be the same.

Because of the location of the tumor it has damaged his optic nerves causing vision loss while completely damaging his pituitary gland beyond repair. The side effects of this tumor have been extreme and B will always suffer from;

Hormonal Dysfunction

He will have to take artificial hormones for the rest of this life and may have to have puberty medically induced. However, that induction could increase the size of the tumor.

Hypothalamic obesity

B’s Hypothalamus is damaged from the tumor and no longer releases essential hormones that regulate his energy and desire for food. His body weight almost doubled in the span of 14 days after his first brain surgery.

Diabetes Insipidus

His water intake and out take levels have to be monitored daily as his body no longer produces the correct amount of the ADH Hormone.

Today we are asking for your financial support as our journey with this tumor has only begun and this will be a lifelong marathon for our family. B has already had two unsuccessful brain surgeries and will be going in for his third surgery, a major surgery we have been trying to prolong as long as possible as he is at risk of losing his vision. This is a massive team effort; multiple Neurologists and an ENT who specializes in nasal resections will work in tandem removing part of the tumor. The surgeons will try and resect as much of  the tumor as possible while hoping to keep his pituitary gland and vision at the forefront of preservation. This will not be a full resection, a portion of the tumor will have to stay in place. After the surgery it is likely B will have to undergo radiation in an attempt to shrink the rest of the tumor.

Your gracious support will be used to fund B’s medical bills and lifelong medical care. B will have to undergo frequent MRI’s to monitor the progression of the tumor as it has a high recurrence rate. He will need frequent bloodwork to monitor his hormone levels as well as his Diabetes Insipidus, and possibly any other side effects that come from this brain surgery.

B’s journey and the life altering changes have caused immense trauma for him and has taken a toll on his entire family. With your support we would be able to ease some of the stress. We will continue to fight for our little boy and pray he comes out the same sweet child we know and love.

From the bottom of our hopeful hearts, and big super hero “HI-YA” from B,

❤️ Bowen, Lindsey, Tessa, Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie’s , and Uncle <3