Up until June 16th Finley was just your average 5 year old boy. Playing baseball with star recreation, gearing up to start kindergarten, and doing the slip and slide almost everyday with neighbor friends. June 16th Fin went in for a routine cavity filling. The next day after the filling we noticed a droop in his face , chalking it up to a reaction to the numbing medicine we called the doctor and we all figured it would just most likely go away in a day or two. Well a week went buy and things did not improve, in fact things got worse. Our once energetic 5 year old started to become sluggish, falling asleep every car ride. He had become less stable, falling while playing, and tripping over his feet constantly. After multiple trips to the pediatrician, dentist, and one ER visit they still just determined he was experiencing nerve damage from the cavity and a digestion issue causing the other symptoms.
“We found something in his brain.” The ER doctor told us, “ The specialist will be here to talk to you shortly.” That was the longest 20 minutes of our lives as Finleys parents. Still while trying to hide the tears and worry from Finley.
The news we received felt like a nightmare we couldn’t wake up from. Dr. Meeker at st. Luke’s informed us that our son had a rare form of brain tumor called DIPG . Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) is a highly aggressive, and fast-growing type of brain cancer that forms in the brainstem, specifically in an area called the pons.
In the moment though we did not know the severity. We heard “brain tumor” and being optimistic thought it’s 2026 it might be a bumpy road but surgery to cut it out and some chemo, kids heal from these type of things. Then we asked the question one does as a parent, we asked our doctor “So he is going to be alright though?”
With tears in his eyes our doctor said “This is not something people usually ? come back from” Because of the type and location of his tumor it is inoperable.
Well that is not simply a answer we are not willing to accept. They have their odds and we know they might be stacked against us, but like I have now said a million times since this has all started , the odds don’t know our Finley! The odds don’t know our family, our resilient hope, and they definitely don’t know our amazing community!
On Thursday August 27th Finley will finish his 30th session of radiation , which the doctors have been so amazed with how much this has helped. And we will soon find out what clinical trials Fin qualifies for and go on to our next step.
Through our darkest Storm the beacon of light that has not wavered our hope and strength has been how amazing the support our community has shown us! From people donating to help us be able to stay home with our boy while we help him fight this battle, to bringing meals, to offering babysitting for our little one, to even just the massive amounts of prayers and positive energy being sent our way . Thank yous will never be enough.
We are so extremely grateful for this experience with My Happy Place! Helping to give our son a space that he is excited to be in to rest, play, or simple just hang out is going to be a major part of his healing journey. We truly believe that having a positive environment that you love be in is a huge part healing. Bringing joy and happiness into his life is our main goal to help him get through this and this is going to be a huge way to do just that.
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