The Round Family

The Round family, cherished members of our community, including the amazing community of JSerra Catholic School families, is in desperate need of help for family and friends.  Before you read the rest, the good news is, Zach is doing well (see heart wrenching story below).  The bad news is that the medical bills are starting to accumulate and become over burdening.

Here’s Zach’s Journey to date:

As many of you know, Zach Round is a 6’1” 234 lb. teddy bear.  He’s a junior at JSerra Catholic High School and plays guard and defensive tackle on the Varsity football team and plays forward on the Varsity rugby team.  He’s kind, warm hearted, loved by many and is a hard-working student.  His aspirations are attend college to study engineering and aviation while playing both football and rugby.



The story begins with Zach, also an avid mountain biker, mountain bike riding with a few friends on Monday, January 16, 2017 when he went over a large gap jump and crashed his bike.


 Due to the nature of his fall and the later time of day, he wasn’t able to move or walk out and had to be airlifted by OCFA to Mission Hospital. While scanning his bran for any injuries, the trauma physician found a mass in Zach’s brain and immediately admitted him for further testing. Zach spent the next day at CHOC Mission having MRIs and speaking with various doctors on what to do next. On Monday, January 23, 2017, Zach went in for a tumor removal in his cerebellum by Dr. William Loudon. Following surgery, Zach spent the next five days in ICU and another day in the neuro ward at CHOC in Orange. 




On Thursday, February 2, 2017, on a follow-up appointment with the neurosurgeon, Zach was having symptoms of infection. He was admitted that night and had emergency surgery to put in an EVD (external ventricular device) into his brain to alleviate the pressure and fluid in his brain, which was caused by bacteria entering during his first surgery. Zach spent the next few days on heavy-duty antibiotics, while the infectious disease doctors tried to figure out what bacteria had entered. On Saturday, they had a positive identification and narrowed down the antibiotic. For the next few days, Zach fought a fever of 104 – basically fighting for his life. On Monday, February 13, a scan revealed that Zach’s fourth ventricle in his brain was blocked (due to where the tumor was removed) and would need a third surgery, a third ventriculostomy, to help his brain drain the fluid. On Tuesday, February 14, 2017, Zach went into the OR AGAIN. This surgery proved to be successful, and Zach spent the next four days in ICU. All in all, this second trip was 15 days in ICU. Not only was he fighting the infection, he is currently dealing with right side deficits because the tumor was in the area of balance and coordination. Right now, Zach has double vision, which is why you see him wearing a patch. Both eyes work fine on their own, but together he has the double vision. The doctors say that his vision should correct itself, as the nerves heal. He also has loss of balance/coordination on his right side, which he is working hard in physical therapy to correct. Zach also needs occupational therapy to refine his motor skills on his right side that will also take time. To date, Zach has lost over 40 pounds and slowly on the road to recovery. 



During all this, God blessed the Round family with a biopsy result of benign!!  This is great news.  The journey that Zach is on is taking a lot longer than expected, with many unforeseen obstacles.  Family and friends continue to pray for Zach and his speedy recovery.  He will likely need to attend summer school or enroll in independent study to catch up on his studies. 

Your support, both financially and in prayer, is very much needed.  I would like to be able to alleviate the financial pressures so that the family can focus on healing Zach and getting back to a normal state of being.