Just before school started this fall, nine-year-old Brayden Parsons started to suffer from flu-like symptoms and headaches.
Many hospital visits and tests later, the Andrew Hunter Public School student was diagnosed with brain cancer.
It's called medulloblastoma and it is the most common cause of childhood tumour.
Brayden's mom, Stephanie Baker Parsons, says this cancer journey is just beginning.
"We knew the surgeons would not be able to remove the entire tumour and we know radiation and chemotherapy are next," she told BarrieToday. "We are also dealing with atypical seizures, which present much like a stroke with slurred speech and left-side paralysis.
"Life is just on hold right now as it is when you have a critically ill child," she added. "We are in and out of Sick Kids Hospital."
Friends and family have set up a GoFundMe campaign to assist the family of four with expenses.
"It is so hard to ask for help. Everything just hit at once," she said. "I just got married to Cory in August after 20 years together.
"Right after that, he underwent back surgery, so we are dealing with loss of two incomes, travel between Barrie and Toronto, medications and future medical needs."
The couple also has a six-year-old daughter.
"I feel so bad," said Baker Parsons. "It's not that we can't provide for our children. It's that we can't provide for cancer."
For more information on the family's story or to help, visit the GoFundMe page.
