Gunnar ’s Story

Site created on December 9, 2023

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Gunnar was admitted to Children's Hospital on Friday, December 8th, diagnosed with a brain tumor. For the past several months Gunnar has been complaining about having a headache, it has been getting increasingly intense and troublesome for him, often affecting his sleep and lately even causing vomiting. 


When he first started complaining, I initially told him to drink more water and get more rest, but after a couple weeks of persistent complaining I took him to urgent care and he was given an antibiotic- at the time we were all thinking it was a sinus infection. 10 days and one round of amoxicillan later his headaches remained. The next few weeks involved messaging with the doctor... maybe he needed something stronger? And then a few chiropractic appointments. Still no success. I even thought maybe this was an untreated concussion since everything started during tackle football season. 
We finally made an appointment with his pediatrician to discuss our dilemma, it was at that time the doctor ordered an MRI. 


Thursday afternoon, the day before his 9am MRI is scheduled, I received a phone call from the hospital... our insurance company denied our preauthorization for the procedure, they didn't feel it was medically necessary. I immediately got on the phone with our pediatrician and she called the insurance company advocating on our behalf. Thank God two hours later they approved and everything was on as scheduled. I cringe to think what would have happened if I simply took 'No' for an answer. 


Friday morning at 5am I'm awoken to the sounds of Gunnar vomiting and crying out in pain because his head hurts so badly. 9am we're in the hospital waiting room and by 11am we're stopping at the hospital chapel catching the last half of Mass, MRI behind us. An hour later I received a phone call from his pediatrician that they found a tumor and we needed to get down to Children's immediately.
After meeting with the neurology team we've learned that the pressure in his head is twice that of a normal adult and the tumor obviously needs to come out. It will require a minimum of two surgeries, one to relieve the pressure and a second to remove the tumor, and then we'll see how his brain responds.  We don't know what to expect for recovery quite yet because we don't know what kind of tumor it is.  Assume it will require some OT/PT, possibly the dreaded "c" word.  :( 

*please overlook my spelling and grammatical errors, this has been a long day.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Nicole Pitts

These past two weeks Gunnar has had a few appointments and we have a slight update on his status. 

It started with a 2 hour long sedated MRI that took place in three parts and included the spinal column. Followed by appointments with oncology and neurology. 

The good news is Gunnar's spinal column looks great and there are no concerns. 
The not so good news is that the MRI showed some kind of bloody mass in his brain where the tumor was.  The MRI included contrast so they're fairly certain it's not leftover tumor but aren't 100% sure what it is. It very possibly could just be a leftover hemorage from surgery.  We're hoping his body will simply reabsord the blood. 
It's a wait and see kind of thing so as long as Gunnar continues to be pain and headache free we wait for the next appointment. 
Which means instead of "you're in the clear, see you in a year," it's see you in 3 months for another sedated MRI with contrast and a more robust meeting with oncology and the neurology surgical team. 
Please please please keep Gunnar in your prayers 🙏
I can't let my mind think about what it might mean if it's not gone (or smaller). I really try to look at the bright side through all of this but right now I'm in the frustrated/mad phase of the grieving process.  I just wish we could have had an all clear report. ☹️

So... in the spirit of positivity we did have a good report on his recovery.  Both oncology and neurology said Gunnar is doing exceptionally well for only being 3-4 months into his recovery.  It was nice to hear and a helpful reminder to give Gunnar the patience he deserves. 
He was also cleared for non-impact sports which means he gets to start baseball soon!  Football and dirtbikes will just have to wait a little while longer...

Gunnar did also get to shoot in the NASP State Archery Tournament. He didn't do as well as he wanted but when I reminded him that only 3 months ago he was learning how to walk he felt a little better. 

Please again,  keep us in your prayers 🙏  That's all I have for now. 
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