10-year-old Sean is a sweet, funny, sassy, outgoing boy who makes friends everywhere he goes. He is an outdoor kid who is all about sports! He plays baseball, basketball and football (which is his absolute favorite!). Sean’s favorite teams are the New York Yankees and NY Giants, and he is NY Giant Mark Herzlich’s biggest fan. Sean also loves music. He knows the words and can sing along with any of the latest pop songs, and he has fun making Musically video’s with his friends. His newest obsession is WWE wrestling, and his favorite guy is John Cena. Over the last five years, Sean has also become quite an advocate and helping hand to me in our efforts to raise awareness of pediatric cancer and raise money to support research that we hope will one day find a cure. 
Sean’s mom Brenda says, “Sean was first diagnosed with a brain tumor on February 6, 2012…just 8 days before his 5th birthday. He was the picture of health right up until his diagnosis. The first indication that anything was wrong was when Sean had a seizure, very minor, just days before he was diagnosed. Initially told that his tumor was inoperable due to the size and location in the speech center of his brain, we ultimately found a doctor who thought he’d be able to help. Sean endured three brain surgeries that first year to remove about 80% of his tumor. He received outpatient rehab twice a week for the next year to recover some of the neurological deficits that resulted. For the next 4 years, he was closely monitored with regular MRI’s, and his residual tumor remained stable. That all changed in February 2017. Five years to the day from that first seizure, Sean had his regular MRI and after so many stable scans, this time the news was not good. There was a new enhancing spot on his brain. The decision was made to wait and scan again in a few months to see what, if anything, was happening with it. Like his initial diagnosis, this recurrence completely blindsided us. The one thing that made it even harder than before was that Sean now understood so much more about what was happening, and was scared. It was a long, difficult wait until the next MRI, and unfortunately the news was not what we had hoped. Sean’s tumor had doubled in size, so we needed to take action. On May 26th, Sean underwent his fourth brain surgery to remove this new tumor, but still leaving behind the residual piece that was left behind five years earlier. This new tumor has progressed and indicates it is more aggressive that what was there before, so this time his doctors to not feel that surgery alone is enough. Sean’s tumor is rare (less than 1% of kids diagnosed will have this type of tumor), so there is no clear path forward for treatment. We are going to start with radiation therapy and hope that will be enough. Throughout this journey, Sean has remained the same sweet, funny, caring person he was before this all started, and he manages to face everything that comes his way with a smile on his face.”
On Wednesday, July 12th, Sean will begin the next phase of his treatment, which will be 30 rounds of Proton radiation therapy. He can use all the NEGU support he can get!!!
WE NEGU FOR YOU SEAN!!!!!!
To visit Sean’s Bridge Support Page:https://www.carepages.com/carepages/SeanRies
To visit Sean’s Facebook Support Page:https://www.facebook.com/TEAMSean.TogetherEveryoneAchievesMiracles/
