Hello my name is Anthony. I am 23 months old. I have a big birthday coming up!! When I was only 19 months old the Doctors told my family I have Brain Cancer. The tumor the doctors took out has a big name Medulloblastoma. My Doctor's have a plan to get me all better! I have a long road ahead of me, treatments for the next 18 months. The plan is for chemotherapy, 3 stem cell transplants, proton radiation, and some more chemotherapy. The first phase (about 6 months) is going to be the hardest. I am getting the best care possible at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. I'm a tough guy and such a fighter. But I still have a big fight ahead of me, I need lots of the prayers and support to make it! I know with God's love and prayers I AM going to WIN!!
Learn more about Anthony at:
I came across this wonderful little boys story on the front page of the Reading Eagle in my hometown of Reading Pennsylvania. It was written by Jason Brudereck of the Reading Eagle. I have a soft spot for children, and this story touched me. I decided to put it on my site because this site is about making promises, and doing your best to reach out to others. I hope that if you read this you will promise to go to the website above and learn more about Anthony and continue to track his progress. If you go to my other site called "Simple thoughts" you will see how I write about many things. I write about the meaning of life, why are we here, what is our purpose in life, why do bad things happen to good people, and hope. This is a story of hope. A story of a strong little boy facing tough odds. A boy with a life full of promise. Anthony; I promise that I will pray for you, think of you, follow your progress, and try to help in anyway possible.
Big Challenge For a Little Boy
By James Brudereck
Reading Eagle, Pa.
May 6, 2011
Anthony Brogan picks up his tiny shoes and places them in the corner of his grandparents' family room in Robeson Township. then the two year old toddles to his crayons and coloring book Anthony likes to put back everything where he found it. it sounds like a parent's dream, but it's actually a symptom of the nightmare scenario facing the boy's family as he undergoes an aggressive two-year treatment plan for brain cancer. He also has a specific order in which he likes nurses to take his temperature and blood pressure. If they don't do it right he makes them do it again. "because he can't control anything that's happening to him, he feels like he has to control what he can," says his grandfather Eric Brogan, 46. Also out of the family's control is where Anthony's dad Army Spc. Travis Brogan, 21 is stationed. with Travis rarely in Berks County and with his mom, Cori Cooper, 19 working at a day care, Eric and his wife Monica Brogan, 44 often care for Anthony.
Rare Disease
In December, when Anthony was 19 months old, he suddenly became irritable and stopped eating. Monica took him to a pediatrician who thought the problem was an ear infection and put the child on an antibiotic. but then Anthony started vomiting. After two more trips to the doctor, the Brogan's were advised to take him to Reading Hospital because his vomiting had made him dehydrated. Then Anthony stopped sitting up and became so lethargic that Monica said she thought something must be wrong in Anthony's head. A CT scan revealed medulloblastoma, a brain tumor with a strong tendency to quickly worsen. Doctors are unsure what causes medulloblastoma. Estimates for the number of children diagnosed with the disease each year in the United States range from 250 to 500. Within four hours of the diagnosis, Travis Bogan's Army unit had him on a plane back home from Japan, where he was stationed. But he could only stay for 30 days before he had to return. Since then he has been transferred to Fort Carson, Colo., and is trying to get transferred to Aberdeen proving Ground in Maryland. "I'm hoping, but they lost my paperwork once already," said Travis, when he was home for Anthony's birthday April 22.
Poor Prognosis
Anthony was fortunate that it was only nine days from the onset of symptoms to the surgery at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to remove the tumor, Monica said. Some children aren't as lucky and, if a diagnosis takes six months or longer, that the delay can be deadly. Unfortunately because Anthony is so young developmentally, he can't receive standard doses and methods of treatments for cancer because he would be left with severe cognitive disabilities. That means that he has a 30 percent chance of survival, though that might be boosted to 50 percent if a new trial treatment is effective, Monica said. if he were 3 or older, his chance of survival would be as high as 85 percent she said. Anthony also doesn't have an appetite. He hasn't eaten anything substantial by mouth since January. he is fed via a tube to his stomach. "He might have a sip or two in a day, but that's it," Eric said.
Full of life
Anthony returned to CHOP on Thursday for three to four months of chemotherapy and three planned stem cell transplants. Unfortunately his insurance coverage recently rejected the plan to use stem cell transplants, but his doctors at CHOP and Anthony's family are appealing. The doctors have decided to go forward with the treatment plan while they continue to fight the insurance company, Monica said. The stem cell transplants make the difference between the 30 percent and 50 percent chance of survival, she said. "How any insurance company could deny a treatment that could make the difference between beating this or not is unthinkable," she said. He will also receive protontherapy, a method for irradiating diseased area more precisely than other types of radiation treatment that could have damaged the rest of Anthony's brain. Proton therapy is available in only a few hospitals in the United States and some other countries. "We've met families from New Zealand, Holland Saudi Arabia," Monica said. "Most families have to travel really far for this treatment." The family will more or less live at the hospital during the next few months of treatment. Monica will drive back and forth from her job as a corporate marketing manager in King of Prussia. Eric has left work at his family's restaurant, CJ's House of Wings, Pottstown. "My job is Anthony now," Eric said. Anthony just had a short break from his cancer treatments and ha rebounded remarkably, Monica said. "He's just so full of life," she said. The family can do little more than hope for the best now, Eric said. "We hope to have Anthony home in August," Monica said. "Did I really say that? August. What a journey this is."
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