Connor's Beating Brain Cancer Fund

My name is Curtiss Johnson. This week has been a whirlwind emotional ride. It started Tuesday when my wife Kathy and I took our 13 year old son Connor to get his eyes checked to see if his vision was causing the headaches he'd been having the past few weeks. During the checkup, the doctor noticed his optic nerves were swollen. Evidently, that is a red flag for possible brain swelling. So he scheduled an MRI for 8:15am Wednesday. The MRI was done by 10:00am. At 11:00am they called us and told us to go to the ER right away. When we got there, there were 3 doctors and a nurse to greet us. To our shock, the MRI showed that Connor had a large malignant brain tumor that was cutting off the fluid to his brain. He was then rushed to the Pediatric ICU for monitoring and scheduled to have brain surgery Friday (today). Saying we were overwhelmed with emotions is an understatement! What just happened in a matter of a few hours?? Our boy went from healthy active kid, to life threatening brain tumor? Holy cow!

Thanksgiving came with another MRI to check if any tumors had spread to his spine. Later that morning we got the word... "ALL CLEAR". Hive fives all around! After that it was time for a family turkey dinner lunch in Connor's room. We were all thankful for all the great doctors and staff at the Mayo Clinic. All this was leading up to Friday's brain surgery.

Connor's attitude this morning was optimistic as ours was guarded, with the looming unknown hovering over us. Would he survive? Would be be able to walk or talk afterwards? We followed him on his gurney to the OR and left him in the doctors' expert hands....hoping for the best.

After 6 agonizing hours, he was out of surgery. Kathy and I met him in the recovery room. He was groggy and the nurse was attempting to wake him. After getting him to a stable point, he was wheeled back to his room in the Pediatric ICU.

After an hour or so, he was awake fully, but still groggy. The neurosurgeon came in to update us. He mentioned an MRI for tomorrow. Not expecting anything, Connor blurted out emphatically, "I don't want another MRI." We all just laughed. Our stubborn crabby boy was back!

His road to recovery will be a long one. Lots of future checkups...chemo and radiation treatments. But hopefully, after an amazing week of sadness, fear, and the unknown, today a small miracle was answered with the help of amazing surgeons, doctors, and nurses. Our Connor has cleared the first huge hurdle he must face.

Thanks to all who have supported us and visited us these past few surreal days. You don't know how much it means to us.

I have set up a Caring Bridge link for friends and family to follow Connor's recovery process:

Connor Johnson

We're also setting up this GoFundMe.com fundraiser for Connor for his high

ongoing medical costs and aftercare.

Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers we received from family and friends. Please help Connor continue the fight.

God bless you all!!!

The Connor Johnson family