When 11-year-old Elijah Portillo fell at school a few months ago and had trouble staying up, his parents took him to the doctor to make sure he was okay.
The provider said Elijah was fine and that the headaches, nausea and dizziness the boy was experiencing could be due to a virus or high blood pressure.
But the high school student’s headaches wouldn’t go away and became so intense that he couldn’t sleep at night. His mother, Michelle, knew something was wrong.
They visited the doctor again and took him to an emergency room in Las Vegas, Nevada. There he underwent a CT scan, which takes images of the brain, bones, blood and organs.
The scan revealed a 1.1-inch tumor lurking at the base of his skull, near the part of the brain that controls balance, movement and posture, which may have contributed to his fall.
Elías’s father, Richard Portillo, said According to local media Fox5, the doctor said he needed to be flown to a more equipped hospital in Utah.
Mr. Portillo quickly packed a suitcase for himself and his son so he could transport them to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake Citywhere the child would undergo a seven-hour surgery to remove your brain tumor.
Because Elijah’s mother is on dialysis and is blind, he was unable to join them and remained in Las Vegas to care for her other two children.
Richard said seeing the tumor on his son’s skull and the emergency surgery was terrifying. He told FOX5, “It’s the scariest experience I’ve ever had in my life.”
Richard flew with his son to the hospital in Utah. His wife Michelle had to stay home to care for Richard’s siblings and cannot travel because she is blind and on dialysis.
Richard said Fox5 Vegas: ‘The biggest lesson we parents have learned is to react. A lot of people say they’re trying to get out of school or something.
‘This was not the case. He had a life-threatening condition.’
The surgery took place on October 24, and for almost a week the family waited to see the results that would tell them whether Elijah’s tumor was cancer or not.
The biopsy came on October 30 with the news that Elijah had brain cancer, although the family did not specify what type.
A family member posted on a GoFundMe page for the family: ‘Elijah’s biopsy results came back as the worst possible result.
‘Elijah has cancer and he is going to fight with everything he has. He won’t give up and is determined to get through this!’
They said he has a long way to go with treatment that consists of chemotherapy or radiation.
And the family is still mourning the loss of their son Art to Covid in 2020 and their daughter Jasmine in 2023 to an accident.
The family has been given two treatment options: return to Las Vegas for chemotherapy and radiation or remain in Utah for a six-week tumor-targeting chemotherapy, which is expected to have better results and be easier for Elijah.
While this is the “preferred treatment,” the post continues, it comes with more financial hardship.
Now, Elijah has to stay in the hospital for the foreseeable future and may have to undergo another surgery due to an accident he had.
A GoFundMe post said Elijah had fallen in the bathroom, causing a tube draining fluid from his skull to fall out, and that he may need to undergo a procedure to reinsert it.
He GoFundMe He has been prepared to cover his medical costs since Richard is the family’s sole provider, but he has had to take time off work to be with his son in Utah.
But Richard said his son’s spirit has been what has kept him going: “If it wasn’t for Elijah’s positivity, I wouldn’t have been able to get through this.”