Picture the perfect family day. For many, this could range from going out to nice dinners together to staying in and having a game night. Spending quality time with loved ones is extremely important to creating positive relationships and bonds among family members.

But imagine if that wasn’t possible.

Junior Gretchen Wagner’s family consists of her mom, dad, sister and three brothers. Despite her family “looking” picture perfect on paper, Wagner’s perfect family day and family, don’t reflect what many others’ might perceive perfection to be.

On July 10, 2000, Jimmy Wagner was born at a healthy nine pounds, 10 ounces and 21-inches long. Up until his five month checkup, he was believed to be a perfectly healthy baby. But on December 14, everything as the Wagner’s knew it would change.

“My mom was going to cancel the check up because it was so snowy outside and she didn’t have a babysitter for my sister and me,” Wagner said. “But she went anyways because she knew there was something wrong with Jimmy. He had been throwing up for the past couple of days and was unable to use his neck to lift his head.”

What seemed to be a typical check up turned out to be the start of an incredibly long journey for Jimmy and the rest of the family. As the doctor measured his head, he immediately recommended an MRI. Jimmy’s head had grown an excessive three centimeters in the short amount of time of one month.  

The doctor diagnosed Jimmy with an Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid brain tumor. Upon his diagnosis, the doctors rushed him into surgery. Jimmy’s type of tumor is very rare and rapidly growing. These type of tumors can grow anywhere in a person’s brain. But for Jimmy, his tumor was growing in the area of his brain that controls basic bodily functions like balance and the muscles in his face.

The Wagner family was in a state of panic and shock. At Jimmy’s young age, the odds of him surviving the surgery or the course the tumor would take on him was not likely. Luckily for Jimmy, the doctors were able to remove 99 percent of his brain tumor. Unfortunately, the turnout was not what they were expecting.

Although the surgery seemed to be fairly successful, that was not the case. During the extensive surgery to remove the tumor, things took a turn for the worst. The doctors had made the mistake of coming too close to Jimmy’s vocal chords, paralyzing them in the process. As he awoke from surgery, the discovery was made that Jimmy was unable to swallow any sort of food. From that point up until age 12, he would have to get his nutrition from feeding tubes that would go through his nose or straight into his stomach.

For the next several weeks, Jimmy was put into the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. He began his chemotherapy treatment, but was only able to have four rounds of treatment instead of the usual six because he was too small. His body could not handle another two rounds of treatment. After his body had fully recovered from the chemotherapy, Jimmy started radiation five days a week for six more weeks. Usually, radiation is not given to children under the age of two.

“My parents asked the doctors what they would do in our situation,” said Wagner. “The doctor said they would give their child a chance. My parents decided that they would take Jimmy any way that they could have him, regardless of the outcome. My parents spent six weeks, day and night, at the hospital. My sister and I had to stay with different family members throughout that time. We only got to see my parents once in awhile, for brief periods of time. He was so sick that we only got to be in his room to see him about six times during that whole year.”

Jimmy’s situation put a strain on his family. Through all of the surgeries, treatments and check ups, the Wagner family had no time to be together without the constant flow of nurses, doctors and concerned family members.

“Other families were able to sleep under one roof, go out to places together and see each other on a daily basis. My family was unable to do that,” Wagner said. “When we were all together for once, there was always nurses and therapists at our house, along with most of our family members.”

Wagner was only 18 months old when Jimmy was diagnosed. Although she doesn’t remember much of that time, she knows that she was always missing the part of her family that was stuck at the hospital for extended periods of time. But Wagner was not the one that Jimmy’s cancer had the biggest impact on.

“Now a days it’s a struggle to get Jimmy to talk or laugh,” said Wagner. “He struggles with communicating, being social and showing any emotion. Learning is definitely his biggest struggle because of his traumatic brain injury which disabled his ability to learn like a normal teenager.”

On September 11, 2001, Jimmy finished his last treatment. Today, he is a very healthy 15-year-old freshman. Jimmy’s neurosurgeon claimed that his brain is beautiful. He told his family that Jimmy is a “miracle” and an “angel,” but Jimmy walks around ACHS and has struggles like every other student with a learning disability.

“Jimmy is quiet, shy and great at video games,” Wagner said. “He is one of the funniest people I know and I love him no matter what.”

For children younger than three, the cure rate is below 15 percent for Jimmy’s type of tumor.