Zachary Pierce was born March 2, 1989 in Albany, New York. He has four younger sisters (Emily 9, Sarah 6, Lauren almost 4, and Abby 1 1/2). He loves the Power Rangers and went to CA to meet them in 1996 through Make-A-Wish. Zachary likes to draw and had a picture chosen for the American Brain Tumor Association's 2000 calendar. His drawing was of himself bowling! He currently bowls in a wheelchair due to nerve damage by vincristine, which is a chemo he was taking. Zachary loves to eat, especially italian food!
Zach very rarely complains. Once in a while, he gets mad at himself because he can't do something but usually we try to laugh things off. He is a true inspiration to everyone who meets him. He is in a special class because he needs extra time for processing and writing and stuff, but he NEVER gives up. Everything is 100 times harder for him than other kids, but he just plugs away and does whatever he is asked. He also loves to play games on the computer. He has a great sense of humor and a wonderful ability to perservere. He is a wonderful son, friend, and big brother.
When It All Started
When Zach was 5, he started acting kind of crabby and klutzy and was throwing up in the morning, but then he would be fine the rest of the day. We took him to out pediatrician several times who kept saying nothing was wrong. We finally went to another doctor who sent us right to the hospital. He had surgery to remove a brain tumor to his cerebellum that filled his cerebellum.
He had surgery and the surgeon felt he removed all of the tumor. Unfortunately, the swelling after the surgery left Zach unable to do
anything (move, swallow, talk).
After one month in the ICU he was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital for 3 months because he needed to relearn how to walk, talk, swallow, move, etc. He did a great job. He progressed nicely with a few lingering deficits (balance problems, fine motor problems, vision trouble, and slow processing--nothing we could not live with). He was followed regularly with MRIs every 3-4 months.
Unfortunately, this year, he needed a VP shunt and, after several surgeries, we found out he had two small tumors in cerebellum again and also that the tumor has spread to his spinal fluid and had probably be there 2 1/2 years because the fluid was FULL of tumor.
At that point, we went to Beth Israel in NYC. In 1999, Zach endured 6 surgeries (mainly shunt related). He then was on carbovincristine (a chemo) that caused severe nerve damage.
Above and to the right is a picture taken in early 2006 of Zach with his new pup. Someone had called the hospital, wanting to donate a purebred chocolate lab, to kind of be a helping dog to someone. The hospital called us and we jumped on the chance. Zach has named the pup KOKO (for Keep On Keepin' On, which is definitely Zach's motto). KOKO is also featured on Zach's website at http://www.caringbridge.org/ny/zacharyp
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Zach is holding his own. He is working with the local association for the blind and they are going to set him up with a job this summer (for 6 weeks. He will also have a person with him at all times (as a job coach). That is kind of exciting. His first choice is Borders (a book store), then maybe the regional food bank. He chose the hours: it will be 4/day. He is going to the BOCES prom on Friday night (with a date, from another class--a mainstreamed class).....his last MRI showed "stable".....we did have a scare last month when his head "felt funny".
We went to the ER and spend about 5 hours there.....everyone basically ignoring us, so we actually slipped out on our own after hearing the CT scan showed nothing. We are thinking it MAY have been because we went to the movies and sat right down in the front (he's in a wheelchair and we usually DO walk up--he can walk with help, but we chose not to this time). I think he may have kind of hurt the back of his neck by holding it so far back to see the movie (do you know what I mean?). In any case, everything was okay. He will remain in the class he is in probably for another two years. His sister is graduating this year (and it doesn't bother him at all, I don't believe, that she is graduating before him although he is a year older. I think he loves going to school and having friends). He does get together with friends outside of school a bit, too. So overall, he is doing darn good!
p.s. Here is Zach's website.
