On the morning of June 8, 2020, Charlie woke up with a pounding headache, extreme nausea, and seeing black spots. At the Stonybrook ER we were given the news that Charlie had a mass the size of a walnut in the pineal region of his brain. It was causing hydrocephalus and they needed to perform immediate surgery to reduce the brain swelling. The surgery was a complete success. They also did a biopsy of the tumor during surgery. The biopsy indicated it was a grade 4 Pineal Blastoma. A couple of weeks later Charlie had another surgery to remove the mass. Thanks to our friend who sent us the name of an amazing surgeon and his team who specialized in this procedure, Dr. Bruce at Columbia Presbyterian NYC was able to remove 100% of the mass. Because of the type of cancer, Charlie also had to go through 6 weeks of cranial and spine radiation treatment in combination with chemo. Six rounds of heavy chemotherapy followed. He just came home from his last chemo treatment on March 29, 2021. What I am amazed about was through the whole 10-month ordeal, he was so strong. Charlie kept an extremely positive mindset and never complained. He knew what he had to do and powered through it. We are very proud and amazed of Charlie for his strength and courage through such an extremely hard time. Charlie is our Hero!