David was born on September 19, 2009. He was happy and most importantly healthy for about six months. Then in early 2010 early spring he had an ear infection. His doctor treated him for the infection but David started to lose weight, vomit about every other day and eventually he couldn't be moved without crying. He was misdiagnosed by multiple doctors. On April 30th, David was a little over seven months old, we took him into the doctor who said to get him to the local hospital for a CT and a lumbar puncture. They did not even do the lumbar puncture because the CT showed a massive brain tumor that was suppressing his brain stem to nothing and causing him to stop breathing. David was life-flighted to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh were they took him and placed an external shunt as soon as we arrived. On that following Monday David received a fourteen hour surgery to remove his tumor. The doctor was able to remove 99.8% of the tumor however David’s right vocal cord was paralyzed and he was left deaf in his right ear. David was diagnosed with an Anaplastic Ependymoma Grade II/III brain tumor. Since his vocal cord was paralyzed he was placed on a feeding tube. After about a month of living in the hospital we were sent home only to return the same week for his first infusion of chemo. David received three rounds of chemo, going septic the last round. In the fall we moved to Boston where David received 31 treatments of Proton Beam Radiation Therapy at Mass General Hospital. In the winter of 2012 David suffered two mini strokes. After an MRA and an angiogram showed that David had developed radiation induced Moya-Moya. This is where the blood vessels in the brain die off and it looks like a puff of smoke on a scan. David received a surgery in March where they graphed an artery outside of the skull onto the brain. After about six months the artery took hold and David was talking for the first time ever! David eventually started eating by mouth so that the feeding tube was removed. Because of the radiation his pituitary gland does not function so he must take a growth hormone shot daily. David scans every six months at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. David turned five in September and is attending Preschool. He is happy and healthy and we are enjoying every day that we have together.