09/01/2026
There is rock bottom, & then there is the place we are currently in. We are fighting hard, but we are drowning. I worry 24/7 about Dean's medical/needs, our home & utilities. I wouldn't wish this nightmare we live in on anyone. "Overwhelmed" doesn't even begin to cover the stress our family is facing. We need help to get through this. Please consider donating, or help us by sharing Dean's story & our fundraising links. Every share & contribution makes a difference. Be aware, Go Fund Me takes a chunk out for fees. Venmo & CashApp do not. I am looking into other platforms to replace the GoFundMe because of the fees they take from families in need. Thank you.
Venmo: (last four digits if needed, 4524)
CashApp: $ShannonFender9902
Go Fund Me https://gofund.me/87adee69
*(The photos attached to this post give a small glimpse of what Dean has gone through the past 2 1/2 years)
Dean, at 3 years old, has undergone 26 surgeries in just over 2 1/2 years: 20 brain surgeries, 6 abdominal surgeries. His hospital stays are countless & include being life-flighted 4 times. Dean must fight for his life every single day. He was just 13-months old when he was diagnosed at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City with an extremely rare brain tumor called Craniopharyngioma on March 22, 2024. Only 1 or 2 in a million get this tumor each year. The tumor was the size of a softball, causing his brain to be compressed to the top of his skull.
On March 27, Dean survived an 11 ½ hour surgery called a craniotomy resection performed at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. The neurosurgeon removed what he could of the tumor at that time, leaving 2%. He was trying to salvage what he could of Dean’s eyesight by leaving that much of the tumor because it was on his left ocular. The tumor developed at the pituitary gland / hypothalamus area, causing the pituitary gland to be pretty much destroyed & the hypothalamus is heavily damaged. The tumor also caused Dean several health challenges, some of which are life-threatening, including adrenal insufficiency, diabetes insipidus, seizures, hypothyroidism & vision loss to name a few.
Dean has also had shunt, shunt revisions, more shunt revisions, external drain tubes from his brain, along with stomach repair & G-tube placements (twice).
In October of 2024, we were gearing up to begin proton radiation for Dean at KU Medical Center. His MRI showed the tumor had grown again, 7 times the size from what was left from the first resection in March. The tumor had grown too large for the proton radiation to be successful. Dean had to undergo a 2nd craniotomy resection on November 14. This resection left Dean blind, in addition to everything else he is going through. Dean than began having epileptic spasms, on top of everything else he fights. There is extensive damage in his brain. Three holes in his brain will never heal or get smaller. And the fact is these spasms cause more damage & make those holes grow larger.
In December 2025, Dean's MRI showed the tumor had grown again. He went through 6 weeks of radiation at the KU Cancer Center from February - March 2026. Just 2 days after radiation was completed, Dean was hospitalized with rhinovirus & spent 2 months in the hospital. We almost lost him at one point when his lung collapsed & his oxygen went unbelievably low. He has been hospitalized a good portion of 2026. Dean is having another surgery in September due to massive fluid in his brain & protein production from the tumor that was left after radiation.
This tumor has done so much damage to his little body, but he keeps fighting & we keep fighting with him. We can receive no assistance from cancer organizations because craniopharyngioma is not on the cancerous tumor list (yet). However it causes more damage & is just as life threatening as cancer. Dean’s story is never ending. We will NEVER stop fighting for Dean.
