Mom and 4-year-old son both shockingly diagnosed with cancer on the same day
Dad Jake shared his frustration of feeling 'helpless' following the diagnoses
A family from Oregon have had their lives turned upside down after both the mom, Britney, and one of her three children, Jamon, were both diagnosed with cancer on the same day.
Just a few weeks ago, the McCrae family were going about their lives with their three children, blissfully unaware of how their lives were about to change.
It all started when Jamon, four, began experiencing headaches which 'ramped up for the next few days' and 'became pretty bad', his dad, Jake McCrae, explained.
The concerned parents took Jamon to hospital, where he underwent an MRI, and it was discovered he had a tumor.
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Jamon then underwent a 15-hour operation - a procedure almost three times longer than initially expected - in which doctors were able to remove most of the tumor.
Jake explained: "Initially, they were thinking it was a benign one."
However, when the pathology report came back on November 5, the family learned their young son had 'an aggressive malignant type of brain tumor', WCSC reports.
On the same day, Britney, had an appointment of her own in which she was also diagnosed with cancer.
The mom learned she had gestational trophoblastic neoplasia, which is defined by the Cleveland Clinic as a group of rare conditions which can 'cause tumors to grow during a pregnancy instead of the placenta'.
“The exact same day that we met with or established with oncology for my 4-year-old, she established oncology with her oncologist, like, the appointments were an hour apart,” Jake said.
Britney has now started chemotherapy, while Jamon underwent a second major surgery on Monday (November 17). He is now facing by six weeks of radiation and months of chemotherapy.
According to his father, the young boy's prognosis was 'not fantastic', however this could change if surgeons were able to remove the rest of the tumor.
"Currently, it’s like at about 50 percent, but, you know, if they can get all the tumor, it goes up to 70 percent,” Jake said.
A GoFundMe page has now been set up for the family, which is intended to 'help ease the financial burden of medical costs, travel, and time away from work' for the parents 'so they can focus on healing and caring for their family'.
The latest update on the page says doctors are 'carefully monitoring' Jamon following his second surgery, after which he’s dealing with some 'post-operative complications'.
"The doctors believe these symptoms are most likely due to irritated nerves from surgery, which has been a point of hope for everyone as we wait for more information," the page states.
Jamon is now being fed through a tube and is in the process of learning how to walk again, as well as preparing for his treatment. All the while, his parents are caring for him as well as his two siblings.
Jake described the 'hardest part' of the whole ordeal for him is being 'helpless', as if he 'can't do anything' for Britney and Jamon.
You can donate to the fundraiser here.
Emily Brown