When Garrett Hill started throwing up on a regular basis last spring, his parents took him to the doctor believing it was some sort of gastrointestinal problem.
They were shocked when the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) revealed the 6-year-old Addison resident had a malignant tumor, or medulloblastoma, the size of a lemon growing on his brain stem.
‘They really don’t know why this happens,? said his mother Renee Hill, noting neither side of the family has a history of cancer.
Garrett is one of two local children with cancer who will financially benefit from the 18th Annual Mike Quinn Golf Classic (www.mqcaf.org) to be held 1 p.m. Saturday, May 12 at the Copper Hills Golf and Country Club on Lakeville Road in Addison Township.
Golf will be followed by dinner and dancing beginning at approximately 7 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus on Orion Road in Orion Township.
The golf outing was started in 1990 to help raise money for Mike Quinn, a Lake Orion youth with leukemia who passed away in 1991. Since then, the event has raised an average of $30,000 a year for hospitals and local youths suffering from cancer.
All the money is given directly to the families.
Renee is extremely grateful the golf outing will be helping her son this year.
‘To take the financial stress out of the picture is huge,? she said, noting such money will go a long way toward helping the family pay for the second health insurance policy they took out to meet Garrett’s medical needs and all his expensive prescription drugs.
‘The philosophy of the golf outing is they don’t want to see your life-style change,? Renee explained. ‘They want you to continue to live life as normally as possible. That’s what this will allow us to do.?
For now, Garrett continues to fight his cancer and live his life as normally as possible.
‘Some days you wouldn’t know any different,? Renee said. ‘He’s the normal 6-year-old boy in the backyard playing baseball.?
More common in children than adults, particularly males between the ages of three and eight years old, medulloblastomas are formed from poorly developed cells at a very early stage of their life. They develop in the cerebellum, in a part of the brain called the posterior fossa, but may spread to other parts of the brain.
Medulloblastomas make up about 20 percent of all childhood brain tumors. As with most brain tumors, the cause is unknown. Symptoms include headaches, sickness (vomiting) and sight problems. Children often appear tired, weak and irritable.
Once Garrett’s tumor was discovered around 3 p.m. June 8, Children’s Hospital in Detroit wasted no time scheduling surgery to remove it for 7 a.m. the next day.
‘It was immediate,? Renee said. ‘We were just very impressed with how quickly Children’s Hospital (did it).?
Fortunately, doctors were able to remove the tumor from the brain stem without damaging it.
‘They’re absolutely amazed he doesn’t have any mobility difficulties or anything like that,? Renee said.
But surgery wasn’t the end of Garrett’s battle with cancer.
After spending 11 days in the hospital, Garrett began undergoing radiation treatments to his brain and spine for five days a week for six straight weeks.
‘It was a very crazy, demanding summer,? said Renee, who has three other children to take care of.
Support from the family’s church and school, St. Joseph in Lake Orion, made the whole ordeal much easier to cope with.
‘People were making us meals and babysitting the children and giving us gas cards,? Renee said.
St. Joseph’s School, which Garrett attends as a kindergartener, held a penny drive and raised $3,500 to help pay medical bills. ‘The amount of love and caring shown for him at school has been amazing,? Renee said.
Following the radiation, Garrett got a month off then started chemotherapy in September. Each one of his treatments involved a three-day stay in the hospital.
So far, he’s completed seven of his nine chemo treatments and is due to finish in August. As a result of chemo, Garrett has suffered not only hair loss, but some permanent hearing loss as well.
‘He can’t hear the leaves rustling in the trees, birds chirping,? Renee said. ‘With every chemo treatment they test his hearing to see how much more is affected. That’s something they really can’t alter. At this point, he doesn’t need hearing aids, but he may (in the future).?
Garrett also has to go for MRIs of his brain and spine every three months to make sure the cancer hasn’t spread anywhere else.
Once the battle with cancer is over, Garrett will have to see specialists regarding his hearing, his spine, which might not grow correctly due to radiation damage, and possible learning disabilities, again due to the radiation.
‘It will continue to be a road of recovery for him,? Renee said.
Luckily, Garrett has the support of his family, which includes his father, Scott, and siblings Max, 12, Sydney, 9, and Clayton, 8.
‘Cancer brings you closer together,? Renee said. ‘You end up relying on each other a lot more. You need each other a lot more. It made us a lot stronger family. It’s made our faith in God stronger.?