Joshua Craig Thompson

Joshua Craig Thompson was born on February 22, 2000 to Brian and Pamela Thompson after a fairly normal pregnancy and delivery. All went well until Josh was 14 months old and his left eye began turning inward. On May 8, 2001 we took Josh to his pediatrician and Dr. Terry Johnson immediately ordered a MRI. Within 2 hours we got the news. Josh had a brain stem glioma. We were on our way to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth for more tests and to meet with cancer doctors. This particular brain stem tumor is totally inoperable.

On May 14, Josh had surgery to have a medi-port put in. Josh immediately began the standard cancer treatments of 28 radiation and weekly chemotherapy to slow the growth of the tumor. After the initial treatments, the scans showed only minimal shrinkage and Joshua’s symptoms continued. The doctors gave Josh only 3-6 months to live. When Josh was diagnosed, we began searching the Internet for information on Brain Stem Glioma’s and any and all treatments. Friends and family began searching for information and for a miracle. The local nutrition store carried an article about nutrition for cancer patients and also about an alternate cancer treatment center in Houston, Texas. The Burzynski Clinic had been developing cancer chemotherapy drugs for years and was in the process of many clinical trials using this new cancer fighting drugs.

On July 18, we traveled to Houston to tour the facilities and gather information about this treatment. Due to the young age of Josh and because he had already received radiation and chemotherapy, Josh was only eligible for 3 clinical trials. With the knowledge that conventional methods of cancer treatment were not helping Josh, we decided to start this experimental treatment on Josh and prayed for a miracle. We had to get an exemption from the FDA because of the experimental nature of this treatment, and had to wait for 2 months (the minimal time to wait after chemo and radiation) to begin treatment for Josh. We went back to Houston and on August 29,2001 Josh began his therapy. We stayed in Houston from August 29 until September 18 to allow Josh to build up to the full dosage and for us to learn how to take care of Josh at home. We had to know how to give Josh his treatments through IV’s and how to clean and flush his medi-port. After two weeks of this experimental treatment, Josh’s eye began returning to its normal location.

On November 15, 2001 a MRI was taken and showed an 80% reduction in the tumor size. On November 20, an eye exam showed that Josh’s eye was much improved and fully functional with no apparent nerve damage. It would seem that everything was going well. Within a few days of beginning the next session of the antineoplastons, Josh developed a sensitivity inflammatory rash from the drugs. Josh’s chemo treatment had to be reduced and sometimes even stopped completely while we tried all available methods of stopping this reaction. We tried antihistamines, cortisone creams, and finally tried steroids, which worked to control the rash. Josh remained on steroids to counteract his sensitivity to the drugs that were shrinking the tumor. Josh had to build back up to the full dosage of the antineoplastons.

On February 27, 2002 five days after his 2nd birthday, Josh had another MRI, which Burzynski’s said that the tumor grew about 1 millimeter. They said the growth was due to being off and on the medicine due to the rash. Josh remained on the IV pump as much as possible after that. Josh had several MRI’s over the next few months. Those MRI’s showed no enhancement or growth. Burzynski’s said the tumor appeared to be dead but wanted Josh to remain on the IV for a few more months to be sure. Everything seemed all right until November 2002. Josh started getting sick and had to be off the IV for several weeks.

On December 28,2002 we took Josh to the emergency room at Wichita Falls, Texas. Josh was running a temperature and crying profusely with his hip. The doctors said there was something wrong with his hip. It seemed to be infected. On December 29, we had to air flight Josh to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth. They said that Josh had a terrible staph infection in his hip and blood. Josh was a very sick little boy. On December 30, they did surgery on Josh to remove the infected medi-port, drain his hip joint, and put in a temporary line for IV antibiotics. During the surgery the doctors thought something didn’t sound right. After the surgery, they did an ultrasound on Josh’s heart. They discovered that Josh had a small mass of the staph infection lodged in his right ventricle of his heart. They said that when the antibiotics started to break down the infection, the mass would break off and could kill Josh. Josh had to have open-heart surgery. Josh remained in ICU until his surgery.

On January 3, 2003 Josh had open-heart surgery to remove the mass. The surgery went very well. After several more days on antibiotics, they took out his temporary line. On January 9, Josh had another surgery to put in a new more permanent line to continue his IV antibiotics. On January 14, Josh was released to go home and do his antibiotics at home. After several days at home, Josh started crying with his hip again. On January 20, they admitted him back into the hospital to have another hip surgery. The infection was back in the hip joint. After his hip surgery, Josh remained in the hospital until January 24. A week later Dr. Gray took a x-ray of his hip and said it wasn’t going back into alignment like it should. Josh was fitted for a hip brace to align the hip correctly. Josh had to wear this brace several hours a day until the hip healed properly. Josh continued his IV antibiotics for several weeks.

On March 6, 2003 we went to Burzynski’s Clinic in Houston. The doctors said that since Josh’s tumor hadn’t grown during all his “off” time, they started Josh on the oral capsule form of the experimental cancer drugs. Everything seemed to be over for now. On March 27, they did an echo on Josh’s heart and it was doing great. On April1, 2003 Josh got off the IV antibiotics, got his central line taken out, and received a clean bill of health. Josh remained on the oral form of the cancer drugs with no problems until his MRI on July 14, 2004. They discovered that Josh’s tumor showed a lot of enhancement and increased in size. On July 21, Josh had another surgery to get another central line to go back on the IV form of the cancer drugs. His next MRI in 2 months will determine if the drugs are working again this time. After only two weeks on the IV, the same inflammatory rash started back up. We took Josh off his medicine for at least 24 hours to see what we should do next. That is where we are now.