Childhood Cancer Warrior: Trevor

As told by his mother  

Trevor was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2008, when he was only 2 years old. Since then, he has had 3 brain surgeries and has been on 9 different types of chemo. He has had more MRI’s than I can count. Before St. Jude [Children’s Research Hospital], we were told that the only option for Trevor’s treatment was full brain and spinal radiation….after the first round of chemo failed. The oncologist sat us down and told us that Trevor would be lucky to be a grocery sacker when he grew up because the radiation would damage his brain so much. We never saw that doctor again.

We were very fortunate to become patients at St. Jude 10 months into his diagnosis. It was a whole new world. They cared about his quality of life and wanted to get his seizures under control before they attacked the brain tumor. The previous hospital told us the seizures weren’t hurting him, even though he was having 6 or 7 per day.  In an effort to stop these seizures, St. Jude removed 90% of the tumor that we had been told was non-resectable. This surgery stopped the seizures.

Trevor is now more than 16 years into his diagnosis, and he just graduated from high school. His career plans involve him going into the HVAC business and getting his certification through our local community college. He wants to own his own HVAC company one day. To know Trevor is to know love and hope. He is full of life and loves living it. He cherishes his friendships. There have been many ups and downs throughout Trevor’s cancer journey. He still has part of the tumor in his brain. Because of his age, St. Jude will monitor it with MRI’s for one more year. He is involved in the Life Study so St. Jude can study the long term effects of his treatments. Trevor has also NEVER had radiation.

I feel in my heart that St. Jude not only enhanced his quality of life, but they saved it. We are forever grateful and thankful for the amazing work that is done in Memphis, Tennessee.