Hello all, this is Jacks little brother Reny, I decided I should start my own website for Jacks updates with  information about the current situation Jack is going through. 

Jack is currently fighting for his life in the Neuro ICU. 

In April, Jack was given a bacteria infection from his leased house water in CA.  He never seemed to get better and was hit with head pain. Jack started having severe migraines in June, after struggling to find a neurology appointment he later had an MRI of his brain, the neurologist discovered 2 separate tumors one ledged in his pineal gland, the other was mistaken as an acoustic neuroma and took his right hearing.  His brain was building up fluid causing even more pain,

 He was trying to get medical help.  He got absolutely no where with his insurance company other than denying him immediate treatment. Daily phone marathons got him no where, He paid for an ENT out of pocket.  Found a primary Dr., another ENT and still this was not treated as a medical emergency,

In August, Jack was scheduled to get a biopsy taken for the tumors and the assessment of a possible shunt attached to the back of his head to consistently drain brain fluid when needed. 

By mid August Jack was bed ridden, he lost his balance in a Safeway grocery store and dropped a glass bottle out of his hand, shattering it as he tried to catch himself from falling. By this time he was struggling how to walk while his balance was affected by the onset hearing loss in his right ear. 

Jack was emitted to the ER in mid August, under the suspicion these tumors could be malignant and how fast his symptoms were progressing, his neurologist pushed for the biopsy to be taken as soon as possible. 

The biopsy was scheduled a week out, 

Jack was emitted to the icu and they put in an emergency temporary shunt to drain the fluid, but the biopsy results from the surgery were inconclusive. 

About a week later Jack was emitted to the neuro icu and had an emergency brain surgery for a larger tissue sample for pathology results. They were able to remove some of the tumor but not nearly enough for doctor confidence. They were able to asses the tumor while taking the biopsy and found that the tumor had morphed and wrapped around Jacks brain stem, making further surgical removal not possible. 

There was a complication the next morning after the brain surgery, there was a build up of fluid pushing against his brain stemand. Jack has been fighting for his life since Thursday morning, August 21st. He was hour by hour for 4 days, they couldn’t get his vitals and blood pressure under control. Under a massive state of confusion Jack could not talk and his face was extremely swollen as the right side had a large droop. 

Jack has been fighting everyday and making significant progress, within the last 48 hours Jack has been more alert and has a 20 second reaction time to questions. We’ve gotten a few laughs out of him, but he’s depressed and worried about the state he is currently in.

He has a delayed response time right now but it continues to improve everyday. 

He is still currently in neuro icu and starting PT and speech therapy in the next few days. Jack is now deaf in his right ear and blind in his right eye. 

The neurologist has assembled a team to study and ensure the right treatment options for Jack in the following days. 

We found out this morning he has pineal gland cancer so rare, that it has barely been studied. This type of cancer is aggressive and has the ability to morph and grow through imitating germ cells. 

We hope that Jack will be out of the neuro icu in the next couple weeks and then onto a step down unit. We will have a treatment plan in the next few days. I will keep informing this website everyday with critical comments and updates, I will also attach an email address if you would like to send questions and I can try and respond as quickly as possible. 

We really appreciate everyone supporting Jack, and I know its part of his will to survive. I’ve gotten laughs out of him from messages sent from friends, so Jacks humor hasn’t gone anywhere. We just need to get him out of the Neuro ICU and get him stable and map out our game plan to kick these tumors asses. 

Malignant Teratoma

Malignant Pineal gland teratoma

Multiple strokes during surgeries, unknown brain damage so far. He has a second tumor in his right ear. Coprupus collectousThere will be a link for  a gofundme on this website, Jack needs all the support he can get right now. With hopeful thoughts our goal is to get Jack stable and get onto his treatment plan.

Jacks Mom Janine, his father Jeff and I are all so thankful to have this support. Thank you.