Community rallies for Jacksonville toddler diagnosed with rare, aggressive form of brain cancer

Florida doctors are working to save a local 3-year-old boy who was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor that can be deadly.

Jaxen Mathis was recently diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontin Glioma (DIPG), which is a tumor in the brain stem that affects the nervous system.

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According to the Diffuse Intrinsic Pontin Glioma Resource Network, 150 to 300 people are diagnosed with this disease each year in the United States.

Children have a 10% survival rate within the first two years and that drops to 2% after the first five years.

“Statistic-wise, they say under 10% of children actually survive this disease two years after diagnosis,” said Jaxen’s mother, Rowenda Mathis. “But we believe in God. So we’re going to believe and lean on his report only.”

Mathis said she initially noticed something wrong with Jaxen in the past few weeks. She said they were small symptoms that were out of character for Jaxen.

“The left side of his mouth started drooping just a little bit and his eye was watering some,” Mathis said. “Then he started complaining about the aches in his legs.”

On May 20, Mathis took Jaxen to his pediatrician for an examination, which is when he was diagnosed with DIPG. He was scheduled for surgery the next day. She said surgeons put a shunt in his head as a result of the tumor in his brain stem.

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Since Mathis was able to get him treatment early on, doctors told her Jaxen has a better-than-average chance of beating this disease.

Next week, Jaxen is scheduled for immunotherapy treatment in Gainesville, Florida.

As they face a long road of treatment and 24-hour care, the single mother is asking her community for support.

“It would mean everything to keep what we need for the household going,” Mathis said.

Jaxen's family has set up a GoFundMe account for his medical bills.

Cox Media Group