Karlos' journey - A long battle with a brain tumour.

$8,450 donated

Given by 89 generous donors in one year

Karlos and his parents are about to return to Starship to undergo another extremely risky surgery, which means a lengthy hospital stay.

Canterbury

This amazing wee man is my nephew Karlos, he’s 2 years old and within the last year he and his parents have been through more than most people go through in a life time.

Around a year ago Karlos developed severe left sided weakness and was quickly diagnosed with a brain tumour on the top of his brain stem (Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma).

Within a week of being diagnosed he was rushed to Starship hospital to have life saving surgery. At the same time the operation was life threatening and came with extremely high chances of disabilities related to brain damage. It was nothing short of was a miracle he recovered with only minor effects. The surgeons managed to remove 50% of the tumour and Karlos returned home to start Chemotherapy.

After 10months of Chemo Karlos’s symptoms rerurned AGAIN. An MRI showed the tumour had grown rapidly back to its original size, unfortunately Chemo hadn’t worked. They are now back to square one with surgery the only option to give Karlos a shot at life.

Karlos has a very long journey ahead of him and any help people can offer is received with a massive amount of gratitude.

Melanie Routledge's involvement (page creator)

Karlos's auntie.

Use of funds

I am asking for people to donate to this fund to assist with any welfare needs of karlos and his family. The money will be used to help Karlos’ parents manage their costs while caring for Karlos.

Karlos post op update 20 June 2018

Karlos had his surgery last Tuesday which was a tough 6 hours! The surgeon is extremely happy with how the surgery went and he managed to remove a massive 98% of the tumour. It was a terrifying few days after the surgery as Karlos didn't fully wake or open his eye until 2 days post op. Karlos was also paralyzed down the left side after surgery but has slowly been regaining back his strength. It is a long road to recovery and only time will tell exactly how much he will bounce back. We are still eagerly waiting for him to talk, walk, eat and open both eyes again. We are all remaining positive and strong for Karlos to give him the best recovery possible. Words cant describe how much the support we have received means to us and we want to thank everyone who donated, sent positive thoughts and prayers for Karlos. You are all amazing

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