Meet Tatum (Tate) Tillman! He was first diagnosed with Neuroblastoma at 6 months old. Tatum’s tumor was the size of a Nerf football pressing on his spine, so he had to have emergency decompression spine surgery. During his recovering from that surgery Tatum went into cardiac arrest for 53 minutes while in the PICU. CPR was given and they finally had to put him on a life support machine, ECMO to save his life. Doctors were unsure of the brain damage that had happened from the arrest. It was found that his tumor was collapsing his right lung causing difficulty breathing. While on ECMO his first round of intense chemo was given. After a trach and a g tube was placed another round of intense chemo was given. All while in the PICU. He had surgery to remove the tumor and was declared cancer free! After 4 months in the hospital Tatum was headed home and just working on rehab. Two days after his first birthday we found out that the cancer had returned along his spine in two separate areas. Four more rounds of chemo and one surgery Tatum is now in remission but is getting checked monthly on Neuroblastoma HVA and VMA markers.

Since his arrest it was discovered that Tatum suffered brain damage resulting in a diagnosis of cerebral palsy. So now we are cancer free but dealing with the aftereffects of what cancer has done to our boy. He is in rehab three times a week and sees birth to three through the school district once a week. As well as the appointments for cancer he also has multiple appointments for other doctors regarding his spine, muscles and neurology.

His last two rounds of chemo Tatum contracted CDIFF, a horrible gastrointestinal disease. He is unable to get rid of it after being on multiple different medicines for it. His next step will be to receive a fecal transplant done on September 11th at Mayo.

We are truly blessed to still have our son here with us today!

Some of our organizations that we love to support and feel very thankful for are the following;

Ronald McDonald House is Minneapolis

Alex’s Lemonade Stand 

Children’s Cancer Research Fund

Beat NB

Follow Tatum's story on CaringBridge via this link...Tatum's Story

*Click on the photo to see more from Tatum's session.