Aaron Castro's Cancer Journey

My name is Katie Quintas, and I run a nonprofit called Here to Serve (www.heretoserve.org). We help families who have a child battling cancer with practical needs. You may not even be aware, May is Brain Cancer Awareness month.  Children's Hospital Orange County asked Here to Serve to help one of their patients, Aaron Castro, and his family.  Eight-year-old Aaron is a fun-loving little boy and an exceptional student who was just finishing second grade at Foothill Ranch School in Orange County, CA.  On March 4, 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic, the school principal called Aaron's parents to say she believed Aaron needed to see a doctor right away. She was very concerned about what was happening to him.  Leading up to that day, Aaron had not been himself for about two weeks complaining of headaches, pain in the back of his head, dizziness, and nausea.

Ann, Aaron's mom, immediately picked Aaron up from school and took him to urgent care.  From there, the doctor suggested going to the emergency room since they did not have CT equipment on-site.  At the hospital, a CT scan was performed, and a 5 cm tumor was found in the back of Aaron's brain behind the brain stem.  Additional tests were done during another stressful week, after which Aaron was diagnosed with Classic Medulloblastoma. A shocking diagnosis that would bring any parent to their knees! Both Ann and Michael were numb and barely comprehending what was said to them.  Who could as they experienced the worse news any parent can hear...brain cancer, and worse yet it had spread putting him at high risk.

On April 2, 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, during the lockdown of this country and most of the world, Aaron began treatment five days a week for six weeks.  Not only did Ann and Michael have to deal with this horrific diagnosis, but they also had to handle this news while receiving debilitating treatment in a hospital...the last place anyone would want to be during the pandemic.  There was no choice. They had to save his life and risk the virus no matter what.  Aaron's starting treatment included 30 doses of radiation, 20 of which concentrated on his head and spinal cord, followed by ten more treatments only to his head.  Simultaneously, Aaron received doses of Carboplatin chemotherapy for five days a week and Vincristine weekly. His first treatment ended on May 13th.  Because radiation to the brain is particularly merciless to children, Aaron now requires physical therapy a couple of days a week to help counter Posterior Fossa Syndrome, which is a collection of neurological symptoms that occur following surgical resection of a posterior fossa tumor affecting speech, motor skills and moods. 

Aaron will start his next round of treatment after a second lumbar puncture and MRI in early June.  These tests will help determine what the treatment protocol will be. Here to Serve has set up this Go Fund Me page for the family to help with medical bills for Aaron's treatment, including copays and deductibles, prescription medications, physical therapy, and special equipment that is needed for Aaron.  These funds go directly to the family!  As all this is happening, both Michael and Ann also want to do their part in helping others who will also have this unenviable experience of seeing their child through the fight of their life with cancer.  If the funds raised exceed their medical needs for Aaron, they will donate excess funds to Children's Hospital Orange County, St. Joseph's hospital and/or Here to Serve. They have chosen to share their journey with you with the hope to be there for others who find themselves on a journey they neither asked for or expected to be on.

Please be generous as you can. You have just experienced a little of what a cancer family has as a new normal with the Coronavirus shut down and isolation.  Their fear is compounded by a cancer diagnosis; not something they "might" catch, but something that puts their child's life in serious jeopardy. You have a little understanding now of some of what cancer families live with not for 2 months but possibly for years or even the rest of their life as they hope and pray their child will beat this very virulent form of cancer.