Funds for Jesse Pugh ❤️

Let’s help ensure Jesse’s mom can be       with him at all times during his treatment. 

Message from Jesse’s mom:

Shortly after the beginning of the 2nd school semester of 2020-2021, Jesse began experiencing esotropia (turning inward) of his left eye. We immediately sought the care of a local optometrist who stated they felt he was only having trouble focusing the muscle of his eye. Thankfully, his classroom teacher Brittany Lewis urged us to seek a second opinion from a specialist at LeBonheur hospital in Memphis. We soon found Jesse was experiencing 6th nerve palsy. They immediately ordered a MRI to find the cause, which led to the discovery of a mass that was in his brain stem and growing on the nerve. We were referred to Semmes-Murphy clinic to seek the help of Dr. Paul Klimo, a world renowned Pediatric Neuro Surgeon. His initial diagnosis was that we were dealing with an epidermoid cyst, one that is benign and of little concern. We scheduled his surgery for June 3rd. On June 2nd, the evening before his surgery Jesse went through a routine preop MRI and CT scan. Unfortunately, when we were presented with these scans just minutes before his surgery the next morning, the surgeon informed us there was another mass. He was certain it was a tumor and we were looking at the major possibility of cancer. He underwent the scheduled surgery along with a spinal tap. Jesse recovered extremely well, so much so we were discharged just 2 days after his surgery. We were sent home to await the biopsy results. We were referred to the amazing team of St. Jude where 2 weeks later we learned Jesse’s spinal fluid was cancer free. However, we were dealing with a very rare tumor in itself, but now an even more rare case that explained the resected tumor was non cancerous but it was spreading. Perplexed, the neuro oncologist requested another MRI and spinal tap, this time they would do a MRI of his spine this time as well. We were hit with another load of bricks. He now has a tumor on his spine as well. It has been determined due to this tumors behaving cancerous that we are not going to wait to see what happens next. Thus, we were given the treatment plan that will require 6 weeks of radiation accompanied by 4 months of chemotherapy. Our sweet boy has a long and difficult road ahead, as it seems we are in uncharted territory as the neuro oncologist stated. He is brave and has a wonderful support team behind him.