| Each year, close to 3000 children are diagnosed with pediatric brain tumors. One of them was my brother, Paul Martin Pannone. Here's his story. |
| Paul Martin Pannone was diagnosed with a medullablastoma when he was just one and a half years old. He was the son of Pauline Alessi and Martin Pannone and was named after his great grandfather, Paul Como. Shortly after his parents married, they settled in Phoenix, Arizona. Paul was born in 1952. |  |
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Paul loved animals. Neighborhood dogs would congregate around his stroller and follow him home. When he was hardly a year old, he picked a rose from a neighbor's garden, held it behind his back, and walked inside his house. He smiled and gave it to his mother. She always said that Paul was never a baby. |
| But months later, Paul began to experience vision problems and walk with a titled gait. The neurologist found a medullablastoma, a cancerous tumor of the brain located in the cerebellum. Paul underwent a long 10-hour surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible, although the doctors said it would eventually grow back. |  |
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Treatment for pediatric brain tumors was much different in those days. Paul received x-ray therapy and mustard gas, which made him very sick. His head swelled from the fluid and he had high fevers. He lost his ability to speak. He was in and out of the hospital because the shunt that led to his abdominal cavity often broke down. After one of his operations, he suffered from temporary blindness and fell into a coma for several months. |
| During the last years of his life, Paul became paralyzed on one side of his body. He could no longer sit up or walk, and he lost much weight. Five years after he was first diagnosed, the cancerous tumor spread to his spinal cord. "It just was not meant for him to live," his father would later say. On December 23, 1958, Paul lost his battle with the disease and died.
He was buried on Christmas Eve. |
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| Brain tumors are now the leading cause of death from childhood cancers. Although treatment has improved since Paul's lifetime, survivors often suffer severe mental and physical disabilities. More research and funding can offer hope for these children. Please support the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of the United States (www.pbtfus.org) and other organizations dedicated to fighting this disease. |
 In Memory of Paul Martin Pannone August 23, 1952 - December 23, 1958 Copyright 2003. All Rights Reserved |