Helping the Duhon Family

Hi, my name is Kaitlyn. I’ve been struggling with migraines for a few months now. About 2 weeks ago I started having migraines everyday to the point of vomiting and being unable to care for my 5 month old. I worked myself up to go to the doctor last week. I got scheduled for a CT scan today on 1/11/23. They called me back with my results saying that I have a 4cm wide tumor located on the cerebellum part of my brain. I’ve been started on medication to stop the swelling of my brain until we talk to the neurosurgeon tomorrow. An MRI will be done tomorrow then we’ll be seeing Dr. Kelley in Lake Charles, Louisiana. My surgery is going to be done by the end of this week at St Patrick’s hospital. We’ll have a long road of recovery and getting back in the groove of things. All expenses will go towards Braxton and Aurora since he’ll be out of work for a while helping us. Thank you in advance and anything is appreciated we will keep you updated!

Update 1/12/23 

We have a lot of updates. We went to see Dr. Kelley today at 12. We’ll no longer be doing surgery in Lake Charles because of the placement of the tumor. The tumor is located in the hollow part of the brain blocking where my spinal fluid drains. He said since he only sees about once a year placement like this so he’s uncomfortable operating. We’ll be going to a neurosurgeon in Baton Rouge. He said this is a fast growing tumor and it can’t keep up so it’s bleeding which causes a possibility of it spreading into my body. I’m currently preparing for a full body MRI at 3:45. He says if this swells anymore it can get serious very fast. The tumor is putting pressure on the cerebellum part of the brain which is throwing off my motor skills/walking. He sent me out some medicine to slow the production of the spinal fluid. Tuesday we will be making our way to baton rouge and i’m sure will be prepping for surgery because he said this needs to come out immediately. Braxtons big boss has called us back and confirmed he will have a job when he can return which is such a blessing. Please keep the prayers going and if you could please donate for expenses of this trip and needs for Aurora. Thank you again so much to everyone who has helped though this with prayers and donations!

Update 1/16/23 we have made it to baton rouge resting before our appointment at 10 am tomorrow morning with our neurosurgeon Dr Charles Bowie.

Update: Our surgery is scheduled for Monday 1/23. Once out surgery we’ll have plenty of more updates!

Update 2/19/22 We’re out of the hospital after almost a month! On January 23rd I did my surgery to remove the brain tumor. We got most of it out except for a piece connected to my brain stem. Everything went according to plan. A couple days later the nurse ended up leaving me by myself and I ended up falling. I had a brain bleed and had to do a second surgery. The next day I was allowed to ride back to Lake Charles where I was taken to memorial hospital and stayed for a week and 1/2 to do therapy. I was able to come to my mom and dads on the 16th where i’ll be until I feel a bit more normal to return home. It’s definitely been a long road of recovery so far and still is because I can barley walk. We’re slowly getting there it’s just taking a little bit. They told me for 2 major surgeries that i’ve been doing very well. The tumor came back noncancerous and it was an ependymoma. Expected since I was a kid and it just started to grow very fast. As of right now i’m struggling to remember short term things the long term things are still very much there. I’ll keep y’all as updated as we can!