One of Kayden's proudest moments. He got to ring the gong after completing 5 months of chemotherapy.
9-year-old Kayden is battling brain cancer and the community is rallying behind his family to show support.
His father Matthew Dussault, who’s a member of the Canadian Armed Forces at Garrison Petawawa, says Kayden received the life changing diagnosis this past summer.
Dussault says they initially thought Kayden had heat stroke with headaches and vomiting, but an MRI confirmed a brain tumour. The next day he went for emergency brain surgery.
Dussault says Kayden is still scared when he goes to hospitals, but has a lot of support from family and the community.
He says they’re waiting to hear back from CHEO surgeons to see if they need to operate again. Dussault says it would be another four to six weeks to recover from the surgery.
Kayden is also waiting for approval to go to Boston for Proton Therapy Treatment. If he doesn’t need surgery and is approved for the treatment, his dad says they will be headed south of the border in a few weeks. He says the Proton Therapy Treatment is much less invasive than the traditional radiation that cancer patients receive.
Dussault says CHEO and the hospital in Boston have been talking and if Kayden is approved for the treatment, the cost of the medical care, which could be anywhere from $300,000 to $800,000, would be covered by OHIP. The family would be responsible for travel costs, food, accomodations and any additional expenses.
To help support the family, over the next four weeks, Valley SmokeHouse (with locations in Pembroke and Petawawa) has agreed to donate 25% of proceeds from sales, all tips received, added a donation button on the Valley Eats app and is accepting e-transfers at valleysmokehousepetawawa@gmail.com.
Dussault says information from CHEO suggests there is a 95% success rate, but he adds all the stories he has read from patients who have gone to Boston are in full recovery with minimal side effects.
Matthew says it’s a big team effort to care for Kayden involving himself and his wife along with Kayden’s mom and step-dad.
He adds co-parenting is very important in times like this and adds they’ve been able to create such a strong bond for Kayden and the other children.
Information on how to support the family is available online through the Valley SmokeHouse Facebook page.
Posted by Valley SmokeHouse on Saturday, January 8, 2022