Conlan Shaw was a healthy baby at birth. He was exceptionally smart and developed right along with his charts. There was little concern about his head being a little above average size, and for his 2nd year physical it was exactly proportionate to his size. It was at about this time that Conlan's left eyelid began drooping slightly. I thought nothing of it and the doctor was not concerned at all, saying it may just be a weak muscle. Conlan also began showing signs of allergies, and subsequently I took him to the doctor numerous times due to a fever, runny nose or a cough. He would hold his head after he coughed and say that it hurt. All his symptoms pointed to allergies and we tried to uncover the best treatment plan. About a month later Conlan began vomiting occasionally,and we figured this was just something making his belly upset. He was not acting right, unusually tired, cranky, and overall just seemed miserable.

My last straw came the weekend of August 22, 2008 when Conlan was 28 months of age. We had gone away for a family weekend and all Conlan wanted to do was sleep. He didn't want to eat, didn't want to drink, he didn't even want to play on the beach. Conlan's eyelid had gone from bad to worse and I noticed his left eye was fluttering. We came home from our weekend and I told my husband it was time to get to the bottom of what was going on with our baby. I called the doctor first thing in the morning on Tuesday August 26th, and was in the office 20 minutes later. I did not let the doctor get a word in. I told her I wanted a CT scan done and that I felt there was something wrong with my child. I'd had this feeling for a little while.

I took Conlan to the emergency room from there. After the CT scan was done, it revealed a brain tumor approximately the size of a golf ball and a half of a walnut shell. I can't even begin to explain the feelings I felt at that point - my baby had a brain tumor - why? I called my husband and explained that he needed to get to the hospital immediatly. The neurosurgeon came in and spoke with us telling us our best option would be to do surgery to remove as much as the tumor as possible. Conlan had surgery on Friday August 29th, the day after my oldest son's 14th birthday, and the neurosurgeon removed 98% of a pilocytic astrocytoma. The tumor was pressed up against the left optic nerve, the optic chiasm, and the pituatary gland, putting severe pressure on Conlan's brain. Conlan was left with 2% of the tumor which could not be removed because it would have caused blindness. Conlan's pituatary gland was severly affected and he now has adrenal insufficiency, hypothyroidism, and diabetes insepidus. But the surgeon had removed 98%, which meant for the time being we would not have to deal with chemo.

Two months later, a follow-up MRI revealed the tumor that was left in Conlan's head had more than doubled in size. It is now the size of a large olive. We were all left dazed and confused. Even the doctors could not believe it. A supposedly slow growing benign tumor should not be growing at this rate. We started a chemo protocol on October 31, 2008.

Conlan is my hero. He is the reason I can make it through my days right now. He is my strength. Conlan is fighting this like a true trooper. We will beat this! My other children, his sister, who is 9, and his brother, who is 14 are my other reasons. They are all so strong.

Written by: Carina Shaw, Conlan’s mother