Help Kayla's Family Through Tumor Surgery

Hello…. My name is Kayla and I am coming to you at this time asking for some help. Which is very hard for me to do as I work two jobs as a single mom to provide for my family. I am not one to ask for help but my family is going to need it. Here is our story….

In late July I took my 17 years old son in for his yearly well child check up and we were very surprised to have the doctor find a Tumor growing in my son’s neck. We got referred up to OHSU to a specialist and After many tests including ultrasounds, CT scans, MRI’s and lots of blood work we have found out my sweet boy has what’s called a nerve sheath tumor growing in one of the nerves in his neck. It’s in a very tricky location behind his main artery in his neck and in his nerve so biopsy is out of the question. We have to go in and surgically remove it, that’s our only option because it’s already causing his pupils to be two different sizes and partial facial paralysis from the tumor putting pressure on his nerves that control these functions. We won’t know if it’s cancerous until they can remove it and biopsy it. My sweet boy who also works two jobs and just turned 18 and is just starting out his life has to take this on and it’s been so scary and terrifying for him and me as a mother! A little bit of Back story is cancer runs strong in my family. Our biological grandfather passed from throat cancer which only adds to our anxiety and worries. Our grandmother has also had breast cancer twice.

My son’s surgery is going to happen on November 18th. The surgeon up at OHSU said my son will need at least 10 days to 8 weeks to heal if all goes well. We both will be missing a ton of work for his surgery and driving back and forth up to Portland has already put a huge dent in our financial situation especially since I am the only parent in the household. I don’t want myself or my son to have to worry about paying out monthly bills while he is recovering. Our focus needs to be on him and his healing journey. If you can’t help we completely understand. Maybe you could just share our story so it can reach more people. We are also asking for prayers and good vibes.

Nerve damage is inevitable because when you cut into or damage a nerve in anyway you will most definitely have permanent nerve damage. We won’t know the extent of that until he wakes up from surgery. They have prepared him for everything ranging from the loss of his voice to facial paralysis or even problems with movement of his limbs. We are praying that with physical therapy we can reverse some of the damage but again we won’t know until he wakes up. Truly anything helps even a share.