Hear Connor's story, as featured on KS95 For Kids.

A tenacious toddler
In January of 2007, at only six weeks of age, little Connor was not feeling well. Mindy, his mom, took him to the doctor. The doctor told Mindy that Connor needed care at a hospital immediately. After a being rushed to the hospital, a scan revealed a tumor in his head the size of an adult fist. Connor’s parents were in shock. Compounding the stressful situation, a complicated and risky surgery was needed to remove the tumor.

The outlook was so dire, a Chaplin from the hospital baptized Connor right before the surgery in case the outcome was grim. Connor’s surgery lasted more than four hours. He made it through.

Three days later while at the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview, Connor was diagnosed with a rare and deadly disease, Infantile Congenital Glioblastoma Multiforme Stage 4, an aggressive form of brain cancer. "It was so scary, there was a lot of praying and wishing and hoping," said Mindy. Doctors scheduled an aggressive treatment to give Connor a fighting chance.

Doctors said Connor could handle higher doses of chemotherapy, because children are more resilient than adults. "The strength he's had through his treatment, I wouldn't have 10 percent of," said David Dykes, Connor’s father. Since the initial treatment, Connor has been thru five rounds of chemotherapy. He also had a bone marrow transplant and was the youngest person to have marrow harvested at the University of Minnesota.

So far the only permanent side-effects of Connor’s treatment are partial blindness in his right eye and some hearing loss. Considering all that he has been through, Connor is otherwise a rambunctious and curious toddler, albeit with a few more bumps and bruises from his balance challenges. Those have not slowed him down one bit though.

David and Mindy feel blessed Connor is doing so well, but they know there’s always a possibility the tumor could come back. Connor’s doctors said with each day that passes the chance of the cancer coming back decreases. These parents also do not yet know what secondary medical challenges common among long-term childhood cancer survivors that Connor may face. But, they do know they will face any future set-backs with positive thoughts on their end, knowing their resilient son wiill match them with his signature tenacity.


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