On March 9, 2024, my youngest brother, Sam Delgado, was diagnosed with a Choroid Plexus brain tumor. He remained in the hospital throughout that weekend and had an operation the following Wednesday, March 13. The surgery was scheduled to last 5-7 hours, but lasted nearly 13 hours and succesfully removed a portion of the tumor. After an extensive surgery and the need for a blood transfusion, he was admitted to the PICU where he remained in a medically induced coma.

On March 26, he had an embolization to attempt to cut off the blood supply to the remaining portion of the tumor. It was determined that the team would not be able to safely cut off the blood supply without damaging crucial parts of his brain. He was weaned off the sedatives and slowly woken up. Not the outcome we hoped for, but having him awake felt like a blessing in many ways! On March 31, Sam’s breathing tube was removed and he was placed on a BIPAP machine to assist with the transition. He quickly became alert and able to watch Spiderman and Toy Story, as we all know he loves to do!

On April 29, Sam had a shunt put in place and on April 30, his chemo port was placed. Sam’s tumor is malignant and was treated with 2 rounds of chemo. His chemotherapy began May 13 at Scottish Rite. Follow up scans have shown no decrease in the size of the tumor, but no growth either which deems the disease stable. Again, not the hoped for outcome, but counting stability as a win against potential growth! Additionally, the chemo created necrosis (dead tissue which can mean a reduced blood supply to the tumor) around the tumor. Sam's medical team believes this is an opportune time to operate and attempt to remove the remainder of the tumor.

Sam has been home for a few months now and has resumed to life as normally as possible given the current circumstances.

The team at CHOA has been incredible and has loved him and our family so well. We are trusting in the Lord throughout this entire process and have been so grateful for our support system. Medical expenses can cause so much additional stress to an already stressful situation. I want to help my parents alleviate as much stress as possible during this time. Any donation is so helpful in relieving their financial burden and providing extra glimpses of hope in a scary time. 100% of you donations with will go toward medical expenses. Thank you all in advance! Let’s continue to pray for Sam and my parents as we begin navigating these next steps.

*I will continue to update this page as any updates come*

Thank you all!!

Skylar Griffeth