'I almost feel like we owe our lives to him': 18-month-old Topeka boy defies the odds

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Dean is currently 18 months old. His family describes him as 'full of energy' —  he loves to play, and is a big fan of cuddling. While he's often seen with a smile on his face, you wouldn't know of the challenges he's endured. That is, at least, until the start of 2024. That's when his mom started noticing changes in his behavior.

"He kind of lost movement of his left arm," Dean's mom, Tatum Musick, said. "And then he had a head tilt that started to get really bad."

In March of 2024, at just 13 months old, his life took a drastic change. With more symptoms stacking up on top of each other, they went to Children's Mercy in Kansas City for what they thought was a seizure. That's where they met Dr. Kaufman. Ultimately, they found out it wasn't a seizure, but a tumor the size of a softball.

"Craniopharyngioma is extremely rare," Dean's grandmother, Shannon Fender said. "However, in someone his age, it's even that much more rare."

Affecting only one to two people out of a million per year, not only is Craniopharyngioma rare, but the difference between this tumor and cancer, is that chemo is not effective and it doesn't spread past the brain. The only option for Dean was surgery.

"He [Dr. Kaufman] came and told us that it's not malignant, it's benign and the only chance is to operate," Musick said "And the next day Dean survived an 11-hour surgery."

While Dr. Kaufman was able to remove 98 percent of the tumor, the tumor did cause diabetes Insipidus, Hypothyroidism, vision loss and more. While there are more unknowns than knowns with Dean at the moment, his family is thankful.

"If we never met him [Dr. Kaufman], we would have lost him [Dean]," Musick said. "I almost feel like we owe our lives to him."

"The man is truly our hero," Fender said. "He saved Dean's life."

Dean's story doesn't end here. While he still has a long road ahead of him, he's also helping in research for Craniopharyngioma. After his initial surgery back in march, a portion of his tumor was sent off to Colorado, where research on Craniopharyngioma is being conducted.

If you would like to keep up with #DeansFight click here. If you would like to donate to his contribute to his GoFundMe click here. You can also keep up with Dean's Instagram by clicking here.

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