To help offset the costs for bills for Brandon

When Brandon was 13 he had an eye exam and was told he may have a detached retina. He was sent to a specialist and he had scans done. He was diagnosed with hypothalamic pilocytic astrocytoma. Basically it’s a tumor behind his eye that was pushing his brain into the back of his skull. He was taken to children’s hospital in Milwaukee where he went through 3 surgeries but they were only able to remove some of it. He still had 20% left. This was because there was so many blood vessels and nerves wrapped around it. He had to go through to learn to walk and talk again, and has short term memory loss. He had mris done every 3 months and then it moved to once a year. Finally every 2 years. His last one was January 2022. On September 3rd 2023 (his 31st birthday) he was taken by ambulance to St. Mary’s in Green Bay. He was unable to move his arms or legs. As he was there they did scans and found the tumor progressively grew. He was then taken by ambulance to Froedert in Milwaukee. After more tests and scans they scheduled another surgery which was done on September 7th. We didn’t find out right away but we’re told they were able to remove all of the tumor. He was discharged on Sunday September 10th. On Sunday September 17th he was taken back to the ER because his legs were very swollen and could barely move again. He was assessed and found one of the medications he was on, they didn’t put him back on. Also found he needed to be on a low sodium/low protein diet (when he was taken to st Mary’s found his sodium was sky high and potassium was so low). He was taken home. On Monday September 25th he was taken by ambulance to St. Vincent’s in Green Bay. He was very lethargic and altered mental state. He was first diagnosed with adrenal insufficiency. He had an ingrown hair on his leg and it got infected. He had very low blood pressure and his temp was down to 92. After further review he was then diagnosed with myxedema coma. He’s currently in ICU and they are keeping an eye on him. Running tests, checking his urine output, his thyroid and working with froedert endocrinologist to see what the next steps will be. It’s a day by day process unfortunately. The doctors are trying to stay optimistic but this is not an easy diagnosis to deal with.

My mom has been approved for FMLA so she can be there with him constantly. Due to him having short term memory, she has to be his advocate. FMLA only saves her job for up to 12 weeks. It doesn’t help with the bills that have been stacking up since the beginning of the month. My dad and her have been driving back and forth between Green Bay and Milwaukee, having to take time off of work to do this. My parents are divorced but they have a great co-parenting relationship. My dad and his wife also helped pay for a hotel in Milwaukee so she could be close by when they did the surgery. They help with what they can but they have bills and kids too.

As of today (9/29/23) he is being transferred back to Froedert in Milwaukee due to the fact he keeps hallucinating and still unable to come home. We don’t know how long he’ll have to be there or what is going to happen next. Any donations raised willl go directly to my mom for her to use to pay bills and the gas to & from Milwaukee. We appreciate anything you are able to give. If you are unable to, we gladly accept thoughts and prayers for him to recover enough to come home. We miss his smiley bubbly self ❤️