This is Raj Patel. A playful, bubbly, fun-loving 7 year old. Like a 7 year old, he loves watching 

cartoons on YouTube  and playing games on his samsung tablet that is full of smudges from enjoying his comfort junk food; He wanted to scream, shout, sing and pester his uncle to take him the nearest chuck e cheese at all times; He wanted a puppy whose “feathers he can ruffle” or make him tired from his energy; He wanted a baby brother or sister! He wanted be a normal 7yo. One day it all changed, He can no longer do any of what he liked and what frustrates him more now is that he doesn’t know when he will be normal again. He can’t speak, can’t eat, can’t walk, he can’t even see properly. It all started when he had been vomiting 7/8 times everyday for two months. He had headaches-likes of which you or I can’t fathom as we later found out. His mom and dad were desperate trying to find out what it could be that was causing their son so much pain. Unfortunately, they wish the diagnosis wasn’t what they had gotten. When they did an MRI, They found a ball sized tumor in the back of his head about 4 weeks ago.  The diagnosis was Medulloblastoma, grade 4 brain tumor. The very next day, 9/14/2017, Doctors surgically removed the tumor. Raj woke up the following day after surgery, but it has been 4 weeks and counting since we heard a word from him! He hasn’t eaten anything by mouth or went to the loo without the help of strong medications and at least two people assisting him at all times. He is unable to swallow which is why physicians recommended on putting a G-tube going to his stomach to feed him. He is suffering from the posterior fossa syndrome, typical after a surgery like this and recovery time doctors say is about 2 years minimum. His tumor was the malignant grade 4 medulloblastoma.  Pathology and MRI confirmed that the “bad cells” (we don’t want to call it cancer as we believe he is always listening) had spread to one part of his skull and bits and pieces down his spine.  He is scheduled to start high doses of radiation to his skull and spine, starting 10/11/2017. Radiation will be followed by Chemotherapy. Having to go through all this, is a really hard for me as a close uncle (He calls me Mama- Mother’s Brother- I have to be there for him twice as much as my sister ), my wife, my sister, her husband, and the immediate family members. For Parents, it is much more so since It is especially hard seing their playful kid, unable to move from his bed for 4 weeks and ongoing. It brings tears to our eyes every time we go visit him, We can’t possibly imagine what they are going through as parents. His parents are the sweetest people. They are average middle class, hard working people with limited means whose grasp of the English Language is minimal with mom being the weakest of the two. They are hourly employees who managed a gas station to provide the best for Raj. With Raj’s current diagnosis- they are forced to allocate all their time towards his well-being which means they both have to quit job to support a kid who is fighting the battle of his life. They are at hospital around the clock trying to do everything in their power to help Raj.  Myself, my wife, my other sister and her husband has been a frontline of this trying to battle it along with them. Translating what the doctors  have to say to the parents, from the time the diagnosis came to the presented treatment options to Raj’s scheduled recovery time is by far the hardest thing any of us has ever had to do. Having to break the news that their lovely boy, Our lovely boy, has a  grade 4 malignant medulloblastoma for the parents is by far the hardest thing any of us have ever done in our entire life. Seeing them carry their son to the bathroom, seeing them trying to understand the doctors and what they are saying, seeing them go through unimaginable pain of seeing their child go through so much agony is unbelievably hard. The feeling of helplessness eats you. This is our way to trying to help this family. Along with caring for a sick child, they also have to look after 4 elderly parents. Both set of Raj’s elderly grandparents also live with them. None of them have jobs. Please help this family and pray for Raj. He needs your prayers, and this family needs your help. They need our help and support. Thank you for reading