Jared4Life

Jared is an incredibly strong young man diagnosed with a terrible illness. Like most 10th grade boys, he enjoys video games, bike riding, and light saber battles with his brothers and friends. But Jared's most favorite thing is martial arts. In fact, he is a first degree black belt in Taekwondo! Jared is very focused. His goal is to open a dojo to help people benefit from studying martial arts, to give them a place to gain confidence, determination, and focus.

In late summer 2014, Jared began telling me he was having headaches. At first, the pain would come and go. As time went on, the headaches became more frequent and more severe, but because he has such a high pain threshold (remember, black belt!), I had no idea how much pain he was tolerating. Once school started in the fall, Jared's headaches began to affect his ability to function in class and at the dojo. He became more lethargic as the pain increased, but he never complained. The pain eventually became so severe that he asked to be picked up early from school twice within five school days.

The morning after the second day he left school early, Jared vomited, so I took him to the pediatrician. His doctor performed a neurological exam and the results were abnormal. She strongly advised that I immediately take Jared to the hospital for a CT scan. At the hospital, the scan of his head came back with a clear picture of a tumor. In the next moment I was signing consent forms and Jared was being transported to another hospital for treatment.

At the second hospital, Jared had an MRI and was prepped for surgery. The tumor was blocking the flow of fluid and causing an incredible amount of pressure in Jared's brain (the headaches!). The doctors would drill a small hole in the floor of the brain ventricle where fluid had built up. They would fit him with a catheter. And they would also biopsy the tumor. When Jared was informed of all the procedures, he simply asked if he could take his black belt into surgery!

All of the procedures went well. But the fluid would still cause pressure in his brain. So the doctors performed lumbar punctures along Jared's spine. These punctures would encourage the fluid to flow from his brain down his spine. Then the terrible news. The biopsy revealed the tumor was cancerous, a Germinoma mass in the pineal region of the brain.The other day it was just a headache, now it is cancer. Too deep in the brain and too close to the brain stem to operate. So now what? The treatment plan? Months and months of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

So how, why does this happen? We do not know why we were chosen, but we were. So here we are.Jared, his brothers,family and friends. We move forward and fight for Jared. We are doingthis fundraiser to cover the out-of-pocket costs our insurance will not cover. Remaining funds will be donated to the pediatric cancer organization of Jared's choice because he still wants to help people. Will you join us? Thank you for your support. http://www.facebook.com/JoinJaredFight