Team Caden

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Team Caden

Caden is a 15 year old from Indianola. He is currently in his 5th fight against brain cancer. *2021*
Caden is 12 years old and in 6th grade.

In November 2015, when he was 7 years old, he was diagnosed with a golf ball sized brain tumor in his Cerebellum. Within 12 hours he underwent surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible. Due to the location and swelling they were unable to get all the tumor. He ended up getting Posterior Fossa Syndrome. He couldn't walk or talk, couldn't control his laughter and the right side of his body

was paralyzed. He went to inpatient rehabilitation at ChildServe for 2 weeks. After about 5 months of therapy and healing most of Caden's issues were resolved. About a month and a half after surgery we found out Caden was diagnosed with a Pilocytic Astrocytoma with anaplastic features. It is a mix of a grade 1 and grade 3 tumor. Grade 1 Pilocytic Astrocytoma tumors are usually benign and don't invade surrounding tissue. Caden's evolved to a malignant (cancerous) grade 3 tumor sometime before diagnosis. It invades surrounding tissue making it inoperable du to location. He went through 1 year of chemo with pretty good results. His tumor remained stable for about 9 months after chemo before it started rapidly growing again. This is the longest he has been stable/out of treatment to date. He had a 2nd surgery in November 2017, almost exactly 2 years after his first surgery. This surgery was mostly just to get a biopsy to do more testing. They were able to resect more at this time but it came back immediately. His biopsy showed that he had a braf v600e mutation which makes these tumors extremely hard to kill. It also meants that targeted chemo would be his best chance. He entered into a trial in Minnesota for about 15 months. During this time his father sadly passed away so he was dealing with that loss as well. He had amazing results on these chemo drugs. At one point the tumor was completely gone. He unfortunately got released from the study due to severe side effects of the drugs. His tumor came back within a month of stopping treatment and he started his 3rd fight. We then moved him to a drug that is approved for adults with Melanoma that have his same gene mutation. It unfortunately causes severe sensitivity to sunlight which resulted in him getting 2nd degree burns all over his body a month into it. We continued on with this drug for a year and then took him off for the summer to avoid severe burns again. He was off this drug for about 3.5 months before the tumor came back again. His 4th fight started and he we decided to go back on his last chemo since it works while he is on it and the side effects are minimal besides the sensitivity to the sun. He is currently still on this drug and it is slowly shrinking the tumor. We know this most likely will not cure him but will keep the tumor from growing while we figure out his next treatment plan. Thank you all for supporting us and continuing to follow his journey!

18/06/2025

We got great news at Mayo! 😁

Caden's tumor is still stable. There has been no change since his November scans. That was when he first came off chemo. The Oncologist told us that he is feeling really good about it and that it seems to be following the exact path that these tumors tend to. Last time we were at Mayo they told us these tumors tend to die off once puberty starts. His seems to be doing this so we are really hoping that is the case!

He said the 1 year mark is usually when they can determine that the tumor has stopped growing. His next scan is in September so we should know at that one if he looks to be in the clear! Obviously tumors dont always behave the same but we are feeling very confident that his is dying!

He also saw a Neuro-opthamalogist to check out his different sized pupils. Caden has permanent scarring from his Uveitis. The inflammation from that caused his iris to stick to his lens and cause scarring. That is making his left pupil constrict and not get bigger in the dark like it should. The doctor said his vision is 20/20 so he isn't too concerned. It might affect how well he sees at night but Caden hasn't really noticed issues with that. I saw it with the microscope and there is quite a bit of scarring so I'm surprised he doesn't have more issues. They could do surgery in the future if it gets worse but for now we will leave it alone.

Good news all around at this visit ❤️❤️

14/06/2025

Caden had a lot of fun at camp! His favorite part was the zipline and rock wall.

Surprise!! He came back looking like a whole new kid! Since stopping chemo, his hair has been growing in straight so he decided to chop it off at the camp's haircut day. He went 5 years with the curls! He looks so grown up now 😭

We will be heading up to Mayo for scans on Tuesday. He will also be meeting with the Neuro ophthalmologist to check his eyes and make sure everything looks good. Hoping for scans to come back fine and being able to push back Proton Therapy!

09/06/2025

Dropped Caden off at Oncology Camp yesterday. He will be there until Saturday! He wasn't able to go last year due to his sun sensitivity so he was super excited to go this year!

Hope he has a great time and makes lots of memories 😁

He also has a surprise he is doing this week. Will share when he comes home!

09/04/2025

Caden had an MRI Monday at Blank. We thought he wouldn't have one until June but his doctor wanted him to have one before that since his last one was in February.

Unfortunately it showed even more enhancement on the tumor. His doctor at Mayo will call next week to confirm, but it is looking like progression/growth. Definitely not what we wanted to hear but knew there was a high possibility that would be the finding.

Still trying to stay positive until we hear back from Mayo but Im guessing moving ahead with proton is most likely going to be what he says.

I will update when we get some more info.

04/03/2025

We had our Mayo visit yesterday.

Went a little different then we had originally planned.

We went up thinking he would start his Proton Therapy next week but that got pushed back atleast 3 more months.

They had a tumor board meeting Monday morning before we got there and Caden's case was discussed during that. They bring in a bunch of different oncologist and other doctors and choose cases to go over. We are grateful his got chosen. They all agreed it would be best to wait 3 more months and then scan again. They also are having us meet with their neuro-opthamalogist and Neurologist.

We found out his tumor hasn't really grown from November to February but has changed in appearance. We learned that his specific tumor can go to "sleep" in a lot of kids once they reach late teens or early 20's. I knew there was a possibility of it dying but thought it was random. We also learned about something called Ki67 labeling index. It is used to determine the aggressiveness of a tumor. Caden's started out at 17% which is moderately high. It is now at a 2.3% which is relatively low. That means his tumor is now coming back slower than before which is good news.

We are going to wait the 3 months to make sure the tumor is slowly growing and not "sleeping" before they do radiation. They obviously don't want to have him do it if there is a chance it won't grow again. They are going to do the eye and neuro exams as well because even though it might not be growing it could still be working its way into healthy brain tissue. Those 2 exams will tell us if that's the case.

Hoping for a positive update when we go to Mayo again in May!

We really appreciate all the support everyone has shown for Caden and our family. ❤️

06/02/2025

Caden had scans today.

Unfortunately it looks like his tumor is growing again. So heartbroken. We were hoping for longer than 3 months but just glad he was able to enjoy no treatment for a little.

The only real option at this time is Proton Therapy at Mayo in Rochester, MN. We will be in contact with them soon to make a consultation appointment and figure out all the details. It was looking like 6 weeks is the length based on last time we talked to them. Really hoping it's less time than that now. 6 weeks away from home is such a long time.

Will update when we have more info on all that.

❤️🎗

24/11/2024

9 years since Diagnosis Day!

Can't believe it has been that long already. That day is still so clear in my mind.

So many ups and downs throughout the years.

"Never give up, never surrender"

🎗🎗🧠🧠

07/11/2024

Caden had scans today. Everything looked great! No measurable tumor!! His EKG and labs came back good as well.

With that being said we unfortunately we will be taking him off his current chemo due to eye issues. He has been dealing with Uveitis for a little while now. It is inflammation of the eye that can have very serious complications such as blindness. We believe the chemo is the cause.

At this time we are just going to scan every 3 months and go from there. There is still a chance it will not come back. If it does we will plan on proton radiation. Don't have any plans past that so hoping we don't get to that point.

It will be 9 years this month since he was diagnosed and he has been on treatment basically the whole time so we knew there would be issues at some point. He hasn't had many problems with this chemo and had great results so it is just hard knowing we have to stop it.

We would appreciate all the positive vibes and prayers our way that his tumor doesn't come back and we can be done with this. It all just sucks so much
🎗❤️

16/09/2024

Happy sweet 16 and golden birthday to Caden 🥳🥳

09/08/2024

Scans and bloodwork came back good!! 😁

His EKG did come back with a couple abnormalities. Incomplete right bundle branch block and left ventricular hypertrophy. I had to google them to see what they mean. Both can be concerning but his Oncologist said to not worry about them too much and we will check again in 3 months with the same Cardiologist. Sometimes the leads they use on the EKG test can cause abnormal readings so 🤞 it is nothing.

Overall good news!

Caden is looking forward to starting 10th grade this month and turning 16 next month 😳. He is beyond ready to get his driver's license.

08/08/2024

Caden just went back for his MRI. This is number 45 😲. Please send all the positive vibes his way for clear scans. Will update when we get results!

09/05/2024

Scans came back good!!

Still no sign of recurrent or progressive disease. ❤️❤️

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