Hunter Ciccarelli

Hello, my name is Hunter Ciccarelli. I am the son of Ken and Kelley and a brother to Luke and Daisy (our new dog). I just turned 6 years old in January. I enjoy playing with my brother, camping with my parents, watching movies, listening to music and just being a kid!On Thursday February 18, 2016, my parents had scheduled an MRI for the early morning because my balance was a little off.  The MRI showed a tumor on my brainstem, and by that evening, I was sitting in the CHOC emergency room with my dad, mom, papa, grandma and auntie scheduling surgery to remove it. The next morning, I woke up in a hospital bed with my parents by my side but was wondering why I was still at CHOC and where my brother was. Dr.Olaya was going to remove my boo-boo at 11am. I was so brave! During surgery, my dad and mom were patiently waiting for 7 hours on the ground floor of CHOC with my friends and family. The doctor reported that he was able to successfully remove the golf ball size tumor that was located near my cerebellum.  The tumor caused fluid pressure to build up in my brain and the doctors monitored it closely in the ICU. The next few days I spent resting, listening to Kids Bop, and trying to get strong. During this time, the hospital wasn't allowing visitors because of the flu season, so I never got to see my brother. My parents stayed with me at the hospital and I was only allowed visits from my two papas, my grandma, my uncle and my auntie. The next week the doctor delivered the results about my tumor and it came back as the most common childhood brain cancer called Medulloblastoma.   I am very grateful because my cancer is treatable. As I lay in bed the next few days, there were a lot of follow-up tests, blood work, MRI, CT Scan and much, much more. On Friday, February 26th, I was finally moved out of ICU and went to the Oncology floor where I met people with stories just like mine. As I continued to heal and get strong, I spent the next few days listening to music, visiting the Seacrest Radio Studio at CHOC and continued to enjoy meals and desserts provided by the hospital and played with all the wonderful gifts from my family and friends.  On March 1st, I was finally discharged from the hospital. I was so excited to finally be outside and driving in my dad's truck. As my mom, dad and I drove home, I could not wait to see my brother and my dog. I was amazed as we pulled up to the driveway and saw all the balloons, banners, and lots of gifts that greeted me! Thank you to everyone for making me feel so special!  I’d like to also thank the amazing teams of doctors and awesome nurses that are helping me to get better. They have been truly unbelievable.As my journey continues, I will continue working on gaining all my strength and balance at home. I will have a year of hard work ahead with radiation and chemotherapy but know that I have God, my family, and friends on my side. We will get through this as a TEAM. Thank you all for listening to mystory. #teamhunter