When Elijah Portillo, 11, fell at school a few months ago and had trouble standing, his parents took him to the doctor to make sure he was okay.
The provider said Elijah was fine, and the headaches, nausea and dizziness the boy was experiencing may have been from a virus or high blood pressure.
But the middle-schooler’s headaches wouldn’t go away and became so severe he couldn’t sleep at night. His mom, Michelle, knew something was wrong.
They visited the doctor again – taking 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.
Elijah’s father, Richard Portillo, told local outlet Fox5 the doctor said he needed to be airlifted to a more equipped hospital in Utah.
Mr Portillo quickly packed a bag for himself and his son so they could be transported to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, where the boy would undergo a seven-hour surgery to remove his brain tumor.
Because Elijah’s mother is on dialysis and blind, she could not join them and remained in Las Vegas to care for their two other sons.
Richard said that seeing the tumor in 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 watch Richard’s brothers, and is unable to travel because she is blind and on dialysis
Richard told Fox5 Vegas: ‘The biggest lesson learned for us parents is, react. A lot of people say, they‘re trying to get out of school or what not.
‘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 or not Elijah’s tumor was cancer.
The biopsy came back on October 30 with the news that Elijah had brain cancer, though the family did not specify what type.
A family member posted on a GoFundMe page for the family: ‘Elijah’s biopsy results came back with the worst possible result.
‘Elijah has cancer and is going to fight with everything he has. He will not give up and is determined to beat this!’
They said he has a long road ahead with treatment consisting of either chemotherapy or radiation.
And the family is still mourning the loss of their son Art from Covid in 2020 and their daughter Jasmine in 2023 from an accident.
The family has been given two choices for treatment: return to Las Vegas for chemo and radiation or remain in Utah for a six-week tumor-targeted chemotherapy, which is expected to have better results and be easier on Elijah’s.
While this is the ‘preferred treatment,’ the post continued, it comes with more financial hardships.
Now, Elijah has to remain in the hospital for the foreseeable future and may need to undergo another surgery due to an accident he had.
A post on GoFundMe said Elijah had fallen in the restroom, which caused a tube draining fluid from his skull to fall out, and he may need to have a procedure to reinsert it.
The GoFundMe has been set up for his medical costs as Richard is the family’s sole provider, but has had to take time off of work to be with his son in Utah.
But Richard said his son’s spirit has been the thing keeping him going: ‘If it wasn’t for Elijah’s positivity, I wouldn’t have been able to make it through this.’
