Thank you for visiting! As you’ve heard, Zane is facing quite a challenging time right now, most certainly the biggest challenge of his life indeed.
To sum things up to this point, Zane was suffering from headaches for several weeks in which we saw a doctor and got medication for muscle tension headaches. We tried massage, chiro and acupuncture which did relieve some pressure, but only temporarily. When his vision began getting blurry, we reported straight to the Winter Park AdventHealth ER. A CT scan showed a mass in the back of Zane’s head. Spinal fluid (which our brain produces a half liter of each day) was building up around the mass and was causing pressure on the brain and optical nerve, thus the headaches and blurred vision. We were immediately transferred to the Neuroscience Institute ICU at AdventHealth’s main campus in Orlando.
The next evening, Zane received his first procedure to relieve the pressure by draining the spinal fluid that had collected around the mass. This involved drilling a small hole about ¾ the size of a ballpoint pen in his upper right skull and inserting a tube to the mass and draining the fluid. This EVD (external ventricular drain) did its job and Zane then prepared for tumor removal surgery two days later, with the EVD still in place . The brain surgery took place on the 19th of November and was called a suboccipital craniotomy for a posterior fossa tumor. The surgery itself went well, but the news we received after wasn’t so good. Initial pathology of the tumor indicated it was a medulloblastoma, a cancerous tumor typically present in pediatric patients. After a few days of pathology testing, the initial tests confirmed that his tumor was in fact a medulloblastoma and indeed malignant.
While we spent a few days processing this news, talking with neurology, oncology and even the pediatric cancer folks, we still await a detailed treatment plan. That will come in the days ahead.
Meanwhile, Zane must recover from brain surgery and one part of that is having the initial EVD removed. To do that, they must clamp it and see if the brain will release the correct amounts of spinal fluid for 3 days. Unfortunately, on Day 1, it became apparent that this plan would need revising. Zane’s brain is releasing too much spinal fluid so another procedure in now set for tomorrow to place an internal shunt which will run behind his ear, through some areas upstairs in the head then down through his body to his stomach where he will just expel the excess fluid with his regular waste. This will remain in place indefinitely, possibly even for life. If this is successful, Zane could be released from the ICU floor and that would go a long way to lift his spirit.
Suffice to say there is a long road ahead for Zane to recover from brain surgery and cancer. In the coming days/weeks/months ahead, there will be opportunity for those who wish to help posted here and elsewhere through online sources and email notification. That may be in the form of fundraising, donations and items he may need for recovery or possibly any number of other things that come to mind as we support Zane.
We thank you as Zane’s family for all the love and support that we've already received and continue to receive as Zane's number of warriors grow. We welcome all good vibes, thoughts and prayers.
There is ONE goal in mind: MAKE ZANE BETTER. Join us in the fight. #MakeZaneBetter
