Childhood Cancer Awareness: Kilgore family shares brain tumor journey

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September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month.

In Texas, almost 2,000 children under the age of twenty are diagnosed each year.

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A Kilgore family is praising the work at Children’s Hospital in Dallas for saving their son. At nine years old, Trevor Hurton was diagnosed with a brain tumor that threatened his life. Now he is on the road to full health.

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A journey that included multiple surgeries and a year of chemotherapy. 

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On the North Texas giving day, Trevor and his family were grateful for what Children’s Health Dallas had given to them.

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The Hurton Family <!–>

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What we know:

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The Hurton family from Kilgore laughs now but had nervous tension for two years when Trevor, who is now 11 years old, got sick and started his journey.

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Trevor Hurton  –> <!–>

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“We thought it was just a stomach bug because my brothers all had it recently. We said, ‘Oh it’s passing through the whole family now,'” said Trevor.

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“And I pushed for a CT scan, and they found a tumor in his brain stem, and they put us in an ambulance and we’re in Kilgore, so about two and a half hours away, they put us in an ambulance and sent us this way,” said Trevor’s mom, Laurie.

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That CT scan showed a mass in the center of his brain stem with a buildup of fluid in the brain.

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The next day, Trevor had brain surgery. 

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The tumor was neurofibromatosis. A genetic disorder that causes tumors to form on nerves throughout the body.

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What they’re saying:

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The family credits pediatric neurosurgeon Bruno Braga with saving Trevor’s life. Dr. Braga was asked if this was a common disorder.

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Dr. Bruno Braga <!–>

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“In the general population, rare, but for us that deal with this, somewhat common,” he said.

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“So, the mass was obstructing the normal pathways of the fluid, so that’s sort of an emergency situation.”

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Laurie told FOX 4 about the extensive medical care required to help Trevor through the journey.

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“It rocked our world. He’s had three brain surgeries, he went through sixty rounds of chemo, so for an entire year he came every Tuesday here to the children’s hospital,” said Laurie.

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Dig deeper:

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Those chemo days in Trevor’s journey he called ‘Treatment Tuesdays’, not just because of his treatments.

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“I would always bring little treats for the nurses with little puns on them,” said Trevor.

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Trevor’s dad, Michael Hurton, says Trevor has always liked to share jokes. He says giving something to the doctors and nurses helped Trevor through his sickness. 

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“I thought God had to have a reason to put me through. It could have been any other one, but he chose me,” said Trevor. 

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Trevor was finally able to ring the bell signaling the end of chemotherapy.

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What’s next:

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“I’m happy, I go to school a lot now. I used to miss so much school because of my treatments, but now I go to school, I get to spend a lot of time with my friends,” he said.

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His parents are grateful to Children’s Health Dallas. 

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“Because of the care we received here at children’s, Trevor is here. This side of heaven with us and so it’s pretty amazing,” said Laurie.

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The Source: Information in this article was provided from interviews provided by FOX 4’s Shaun Rabb.

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Health Care

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