On November 5th, 2008, Drew was rushed in for an MRI after experiencing months of headaches, unsteadiness, and his eye slightly turning in. He was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a malignant brain tumor. He had emergency surgery the next day with a total resection. After surgery Drew suffered severely from a side effect called posterior fossa syndrome with mutism. He was not able to talk, walk, eat by himself, and was paralyzed on his right side. He had physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy everyday in the hospital to try to give him his mobility, speech, and life back. My beautiful little boy was almost a vegetable and only able to cry. We spent months and months living in the hospital not able to go home, as he received 4 doses of standard chemotherapy, then 4 rounds of a very intense chemotherapy with 3 stem cell replacements. They harvested his stem cells to give back to him after the chemotherapy, like a bone marrow transplant (BMT). We lived on the BMT unit for many months because the risk of infection was too great. In May we headed off to Boston where he received 30 rounds of Proton radiation treatment. In Boston Drew walked for the first time by himself, and was slowly regaining his speech. We finally returned back home in July 2009 after months and months of just wanting to go home. He has been finished with treatment for 8 months and is no evidence of disease! He is now in Kindergarten, still doesn’t have hair, but LOVES being with his friends. He also loves talking, running, laughing, wrestling with his brother, and being "normal" again. He is my HERO!

Written by Catherine Koenig, Drew’s Mother