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You can imagine every parent's worse nightmare,
a healthy kid one minute and the next minute a giant brain tumor
in the center of his brain.
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A diagnosis of a brain tumor is a life-changing event for
the patient and the family.
And a lot of times the kids can actually help their
parents get through a difficult time like this.
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>> Well, I remember, I had brain tumor.
What?
>> No, no that's fine.
>> I remember I had a brain tumor and I remember that
they had to get all the fluid out so it didn't grow back.
>> Do you remember anything from the hospital?
>> They had a play room there.
And they had this one other on the ninth floor, and really big.
>> Here they are.
>> Here we are, there we go.
[CROSSTALK] >> Do you
want to put this one next to it?
[INAUDIBLE] >> He was growth hormone
deficient.
So we went for an MRI to get him started on the growth hormones,
cuz you have to get the pituitary gland checked prior.
The doctor came in and the nurses came in and they were
just like, there's a massive tumor in your son's brain.
That night we went to Hopkins they admitted us, we stayed
the night and then that morning he went in for surgery.
>> We looked at the films and
agreed we thought it was likely a craniopharyngioma.
A benign tumor in a malignant place.
We had a whole team that came by where we
used endoscope assisted microsurgery.
It was such a big tumor.
And so what we did is we did an endoscopic approach,
a small tube coming from the top of the brain, and
we opened it up and drained the fluid and
took out the top part of the tumor to relax the brain.
And then we did a microsurgical approach,
lifting up the brain underneath.
So we didn't have to go through the brain,
but we worked underneath the brain under high-power of
the operating microscope to peel the tumor off these
important structures at the base of the brain.
>> They were saying that some kids will go into a coma for
a little while or just not be themselves when they wake up.
So it was, all day it was just like we're gonna
lose our Declan.
It was just like we didn't know.
And they came out after the surgery and they were like,
he's awake and he did really good, he just woke up.
Most kids wake up screaming and he just was like, hi.
They said, that he said he was thirsty.
So they gave him a little sponge on a stick And
he was like I want real water.
And when they told us that, we were like he is fine,
he is Declan all the way.
And we went in and the first thing he said to me he's like
you're right I didn't feel it.
>> You know we played music when
you were asleep in the operating room.
>> I didn't know.
>> Yeah, we played some Elvis Presley,
you probably don't even know who that is.
I didn't even hear that.
>> No, you were fast asleep.
>> In some of the difficult operations,
we bring Elvis into the OR and play some of his music.
It helps us get through some of the tense moments in the OR.
We call this Pediatric Neurosurgery or
Graceland East at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
>> But when I found out, he was an Elvis impersonator.
>> [LAUGH] >> I looked
it up immediately and found this amazing picture of him
singing with all of these rings on, and the glasses,
I was just like this is my favorite guy now.
He told you that they were playing Elvis
during your surgery.
>> Yeah.
He even got the up like him.
>> You think he dressed up like him while he did surgery?
>> Yeah.
>> That would be pretty funny.
>> Wow.
>> There is a healing power of humor.
You can't take yourself too seriously and
kids won't let you take yourself too seriously.
And so it's good to have a mind like a five year-old and
we can all recover from this together.
You know what I'm gonna be when I grow up?
>> What? >> Rock star.
>> [LAUGH] >> Well I'm gonna be in a band.
>> Really?
What do you play?
>> That I'm trying to figure out.
>> [LAUGH] I'm a singer myself.
If you want to get together, let me know,
maybe I can be in your band, all right?
>> Okay.
>> What? What are you poking me for,
I'm not food.
[LAUGH] >> Woah!
>> Where are you headed out?
That's a big chip >> Look how big this is.
>> For the most part his spirits are-
>> Yeah,
I mean he doesn't seem to dwell on it.
>> He didn't really complain,
he took it a lot better than we did.
>> Yeah.
>> I think Declan helped all of us get through this and
it's just amazing how well he's done.
And this is why we do what we do.
This is the joy of being a pediatric neurosurgeon.
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