John Reyven Tanada is a 5 year old boy whose life changed after he has diagnosed with optic pathway glioma. At the early age of 2 years old, his family noticed that he had difficulty tracking objects. This was eventually accompanied by headaches and dizziness. Despite the financial difficulties, his family saved up some money to have him seen by an Ophthalmologist and fix him up with some prescription eyeglasses but this did not improve his condition. Over a span of a few weeks, he developed weakness and difficulty speaking. His family brought him to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) for a Neurosurgical consult and a Cranial CT Scan was done which revealed a tumor in his brain, pressing on both of his optic nerves resulting in irreversible damage to his vision. He was admitted at PGH for surgery since his condition worsened and the growing mass was causing increasing pressure on John Reyven’s young brain.
Through the help of Let’s Save the Brain Foundation, the needed equipment for John Reyven’s surgery was procured which helped relieve the elevated pressure on his brain.
On May 18, 2023, we received a frantic message on our Facebook page from a friend of BJ (not his real name), a 35-year-old male diagnosed with Brown-Sequard Syndrome, a condition where one experiences generalized weakness due to a benign tumor in the spine. The surgeon BJ consulted said the materials needed for the operation would cost PhP 350,000! BJ …
A FAMILY’S HERO Every day, Emerson gets up early to gather his merchandise and leave the house, hoping to make some money for his family. He works as a vendor, enduring the heat of the sun and the pouring of rain, eager to make ends meet for his four children. Emerson knows that he can’t stop working even for a …
A STORY BEHIND A MOTHER’S SMILE She was glowing. Her pregnancy was a walk in the park. Every prenatal checkup added to her excitement of meeting her baby whom she named Smile – the name she chose to capture the joy that her pregnancy brought her. Everything was going great, until she got the result of her ultrasound. It showed …