Photo By Sgt. Tyler Brock | Spc. Tyler Brock, an army cavalry scout assigned to 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry...... read more read more
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Battling Cancer - Ganglioglioma
4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office
Spc. Scyrrus Corregidor
Sept. 17, 2022
FORT CARSON, Colo. – September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, a time to acknowledge children and their families who are dealing with a cancer diagnosis to raise awareness about the reality of childhood cancer and emphasize the importance of treatment and research.
“My oldest son, Troy, has a brain tumor called a Ganglioglioma,” said Spc. Tyler Brock, an Army cavalry scout assigned to 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
Ganglioglioma is a very rare type of glioma brain tumor that contains a mixture of neuronal and glial cells, and is part of a group of tumors classified as mixed neuronal-glial tumors.
Parents are faced with many practical and emotional challenges that can significantly affect them when their child is diagnosed with cancer, especially military parents.
“Having a child that has cancer is really difficult. It makes life a lot harder than a normal average child,” said Samantha Brock, Tyler Brock’s wife.
Tyler and Samantha found out Troy had cancer a few days before Troy’s eighth birthday.
“We found out because he had a sleep study and his central apnea was super high, that's really alarming,” said Samantha. ”So the doctors did a Magnetic Resonance Imaging and that's when they found the tumor, during the MRI.”
Troy began his challenge of fighting against his tough opponent, the ganglioglioma.
“I didn't really understand what it was. Once I found out what it was, I was a little scared at first,” Troy said. “I was scared of getting surgery, I don't like to get surgery. I was afraid that if something bad happened, then I wouldn't be able to do some things for the rest of my life.”
After the MRI and surgery, Troy began his treatment. He is receiving a pill medication as part of his targeted therapy. Tyler Brock says he has to take two pills in the morning and two in the afternoon and evening on an empty stomach.
As a service member, Tyler Brock was eligible to enroll his son for the Exceptional Family Member Program with Fort Carson.
EFMP is a mandatory enrollment program that works with other military and civilian agencies to provide comprehensive and coordinated community support, housing, educational, medical, and personnel services to families with special needs.
“We've enrolled him in EFMP and we asked for stability to stay here in Colorado,” said Tyler, “Having the Army back us up on family first, means a lot. That's my number one priority. If I know that my family is being taken care of, I can start chopping down my other priorities and working those down.”
Tyler Brock also said that having TRICARE to support him and his family's medical needs has been tremendously helpful. He says there is no way his family would have been able to give Troy the care he needed if he was still a civilian.
“My advice is just to always look at your options and then figure out what's best for your family and what you think will be best for your child,” said Samantha. “I'm thankful for all the support from family, friends and Tyler's leadership. I feel like that's the thing that the military is really good with. They're helping support our family by allowing Tyler to go to these important appointments and giving him that time off. That's been really beneficial because Troy needs his dad.”
EFMP and other military resources support families who are in need of special care, which emphasizes the Army’s message of "people first." Knowing that their family is being taken care of enables Soldiers to be Mountain Post ready to deploy, fight and win.
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| Date Taken: | 09.17.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 09.21.2022 13:51 |
| Story ID: | 429715 |
| Location: | COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, US |
| Hometown: | CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 176 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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