Help Tristan on his Rehabilitation journey!

Hello everyone! My name is Mari.

Tristan, my son, loves his family, especially his brother Levon. He has the purest heart, likes to help others, and like any other teenage boy, he loves being with his friends.

Tristan turned 14 on June 2nd and wasn’t able to celebrate his birthday the same day because he was feeling tired and had a headache, however Tristan celebrated his birthday the following day with friends at his favorite restaurant.

I noticed that day that Tristan was walking unsteady. Tristan was finishing 8th grade when him and his brother got a virus called Hand, Food, and mouth disease. I thought he was having unsteady walking and headaches as side effects after the viral infection. I took him to his pediatrician where he was referred to Emergency Room. At the ER an MRI was performed to showed that he had a brain tumor. Tristan underwent surgery on June 7th and was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma.

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in children, this tumor starts in the lower part of the brain ( the cerebellum ) which is involved in muscle coordination, balance, and movement. The tumor resection surgery left Tristan in a wheelchair, he is diagnosed with Ataxia, Nystagmus, Impaired mobility, and Dysarthria. Tristan has to go through a very long period of Physical, Occupational, and Speech therapies to be able to recover from Posterior Fossa Syndrome, he has to regain the ability to walk and talk, to be independent again. He needs help with eating, dressing, getting in and out of bed, etc, etc. I had to leave work to be able to assist him with his everyday living.

Tristan’s family is very small, his father is doing everything he can to take care of my mother and other son, while also trying to support Tristan and I. This family is not able to go through this alone financially, I'm thankful for any support through Tristan's recovery proccess. Anything would help and will be appreciated. Thank you for reading and sharing Tristan’s Story.