Dean's Fight

Dean's Fight Dean was just 13 months old when he was diagnosed with Craniopharyngioma, a very rare brain tumor.

DEAN UPDATE: Thursday, June 4We have been at Children's Mercy ER since 1:00 am with Dean because of the red, swollen are...
06/04/2026

DEAN UPDATE: Thursday, June 4
We have been at Children's Mercy ER since 1:00 am with Dean because of the red, swollen area on his temple. He has had scans & blood work. They just took more blood for cultures. They also just started him on antibiotics. We are waiting to hear from our neurosurgery team. He will be getting an MRI with contrast & we do know Dean is getting admitted. That is all we know right now. Please pray & send good, positive energy for our Dean. We will continue to update as we find out what is happening with him.

For folks who have asked, our information to donate is below. We have been fighting for Dean's life for well over 2 year...
06/03/2026

For folks who have asked, our information to donate is below. We have been fighting for Dean's life for well over 2 years now, which has taken its toll on our financial situation. Anything is so helpful & forever appreciated. The photos in the post are just a small glimpse of what Dean has been through the past 2 years. Thank you, everyone.
Venmo: (last four digits if needed, 4524)
CashApp: $ShannonFender9902
Go Fund Me https://gofund.me/87adee69

Tomorrow! The golf tournament, along with the raffle & silent auction, all happens tomorrow...on Thursday, June 4! The p...
06/03/2026

Tomorrow! The golf tournament, along with the raffle & silent auction, all happens tomorrow...on Thursday, June 4! The proceeds from this will go directly to our family to help with our fight for Dean. Here are the details. If you would like to participate in the raffle, you can Venmo the money for your raffle tickets if you can't attend or stop by Tailgators. Raffle tickets are 2 for $5.00, you can purchase as many as you like. Feel free to message me for more information. You don't need to be present to win either. There are so many amazing items that have been donated for the raffle. ALSO, the silent auction is in full swing. You can stop by Tailgators & sign up for any of the awesome items available to bid on. The raffle & the silent auction will close at 7:00 pm on Thursday. Again, you do not have to be present to win any of these. The golf tournament will be at Cypress Ridge Golf Course in Topeka. Michael & I will be there with Dean (hopefully) around 12:00. We will then be at Tailgators around 5:00. If you aren't able to make the golf tournament, stop by Tailgators at 5:00 to see us.
Information to donate:
Venmo: (last four digits if needed, 4524)
CashApp: $ShannonFender9902
Go Fund Me https://gofund.me/87adee69

Family & Friends! The golf tournament, along with the raffle & silent auction, is just 2 days away...on Thursday, June 4...
06/02/2026

Family & Friends! The golf tournament, along with the raffle & silent auction, is just 2 days away...on Thursday, June 4! The proceeds from this will go directly to our family. Here are the details. If you would like to participate in the raffle, you can Venmo or CashApp the money for your raffle tickets. Feel free to message me for more information. You don't need to be present to win either. There are so many amazing items that have been donated for the raffle. ALSO, the silent auction is in full swing. You can stop in at Tailgators Sports Pub & Grub & sign up for any of the amazing items available to bid on. The raffle & the silent auction will close at 7:00 pm on Thursday. Again, you do not have to be present to win any of these. The golf tournament will be at Cypress Ridge Golf Course in Topeka. Michael & I will be there with Dean (hopefully) around 12:00. We will then be at Tailgators around 5:00. If you aren't able to make the golf tournament, stop by Tailgators at 5:00 to see us!
Information to donate:
Venmo: (last four digits if needed, 4524)
CashApp: $ShannonFender9902
Go Fund Me https://gofund.me/87adee69

DEAN UPDATE: Monday, 6/1Dean came home from the hospital Saturday night. Sunday morning he had this red patch on his tem...
06/01/2026

DEAN UPDATE: Monday, 6/1
Dean came home from the hospital Saturday night. Sunday morning he had this red patch on his temple. The area is also warm to touch, his face is swollen & there is even a little brusing or discoloration. We are concerned that the fluid increase he has on that right side has increased further to cause problems and/or his shunt is failing. However, he isn't showing the usual shunt failure signs he has in the past. We had him loaded in the car today to take him to Children's Mercy & we got a call from Dr. Kaufman. Tatum sent the pictures to him along with our concerns. He said not to bring him in just yet. He scheduled him for a rapid MRI Thursday morning, followed by an appointment with Dr. Kaufman immediately after. We trust Dr. Kaufman completely. We will just be watching Dean for signs of shunt failure or infection. We will update as we know more.

As for what happened with neurology, the EEG & the few days in the hospital this past weekend....we still have no real answers. They said the EEG actually looked the same as his last, no changes. The doctor who said it looked worse had never seen Dean's previous EEG, so yes it was bad to him. Anyway, we don't know what is going on. Dean's brain tumor caused & continues to cause so much havoc on his body that his little body does things they can't explain. Just more frustrations, more worry, more stress.

The golf tournament is just a few days away, this Thursday, June 4. There are other ways to help. Please consider sharin...
05/31/2026

The golf tournament is just a few days away, this Thursday, June 4. There are other ways to help. Please consider sharing & if you would like to help our fight for Dean & cannot attend the golf tournament or Tailgators on Thursday evening, our Venmo, CashApp & GoFundMe is below. Thank you for support, sharing & prayers.
Venmo: (last four digits if needed, 4524)
CashApp: $ShannonFender9902
Go Fund Me https://gofund.me/87adee69

DEAN UPDATE: Saturday, 5/30 with Big Slick!Photo 1: Paul Rudd, Stephen. Wilson Jr, Jake Tapper, Chloe Bridges Devine, C...
05/30/2026

DEAN UPDATE: Saturday, 5/30 with Big Slick!
Photo 1: Paul Rudd, Stephen. Wilson Jr, Jake Tapper, Chloe Bridges Devine, Calum Worthy

Photo 2: Michael Pena, Al Roker, Johnny Knoxville, Seth Herzog, & David Koechner

This part of the update is written by Tatum: I’m having a hard time with life and with Dean's life. I struggle everyday to find joy. I struggle everyday to enjoy the day. Today the universe gave me something to treasure and enjoy so much. We were lucky enough to be on one of the floors the guys from big slick and some guest visited today. I was so happy when Paul Rudd walked in and I had a good conversation with him about Queen and Freddie. We also all had a good conversation about Cardi B and I suggested some songs to Paul that I thought he’d like. Getting to tell them thank you for all they do for the hospital is what really meant the most to me. Dean has no idea they all talked to him and a couple held his hand. He was asleep the whole time. For me it’s a moment I’ll cherish forever that I got to share with Dean. They also signed a Big Slick KC program for us.

Big Slick is an amazing weekend. It was originally created by Paul Rudd, Rob Riggle & Jason Sudeikis who then added Eric Stonestreet & David Koechner. A few years ago they added Heidi Gardner. These are the amazing "homegrown celebrity" hosts, who enlist the help of their celebrity friends, to make Big Slick weekend possible. This is a HUGE fundraiser for our 2nd home, Children's Mercy Hospital is KC. In addition to the softball game (which they weren't able to have this year) & the big event/party at T-Mobile Center, this group of wonderful humans makes visits for 3 days to CMH.

They didn’t start Dean’s EEG till around 8am. The neurologist came in a little bit ago to let us know his EEG is concern...
05/29/2026

They didn’t start Dean’s EEG till around 8am. The neurologist came in a little bit ago to let us know his EEG is concerning and worse than his last one. He’s reaching out to the epilepsy team because this seems to be more of epileptic spasms again and not seizures. They’re leaving Dean on the EEG for a little bit longer at least unless they decide to keep it on longer. The neurologist thinks the epilepsy team will either try upping his medication for the spasms or try a different one. When he got diagnosed with the epileptic spasms back in October if I remember correctly there wasn’t a different medication they could give him so I’m assuming they’ll up his dose of what he’s already getting but I could be wrong. Dean has also had an elevated heart rate today which could be caused by a few different things one being he’s to hot. He had cooled down and that seems to have helped a little. Part of that could also be from him having epileptic spasms. I have noticed the last few days Dean has had moments of whining like he’s hurting so I asked if neurosurgery could be contacted to see if Dr.Kaufman thinks he needs to check the pressure in his head. They mentioned Dean maybe getting to come home later today. If not today then tomorrow hoping this is an easy fix with Dean just needing a higher dose of his medication now.

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Kansas City, KS
66103

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