NEW ORLEANS — Braxton Singleton got to smile for his seventh birthday.
The Morgan City boy, diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, had five surgeries in less than two weeks and was left temporarily unable to talk, smile or move purposefully. The condition, called posterior fossa syndrome, happens to about 25 percent of kids who have the brain surgery he did.
As Braxton’s birthday approached, his father Shon Singleton desperately hoped the effects of that syndrome would diminish so the family could make his birthday special.
He shared on Facebook a photo of Braxton and his younger brother Hollin enjoying some time together on Braxton’s birthday.
“YALL SEE THIS SMILE!!!! This is progress!!” Shon Singleton said in the Facebook post. “He also understands everything we are saying because he can do small things on command like grabbing you or turning his body from side to side in the bed, squeezing your hand, but he also laughs at jokes so he is surely listening and we make sure he hears nothing but positivity and encouragement!”
Braxton still faces a combo of chemotherapy and radiation to treat his brain cancer and he remains hospitalized at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans. Singleton said Braxton is starting physical therapy five days a week to help him recover from the posterior fossa syndrome and get him ready for the cancer treatments.
Shon Singleton works for Off the Hook seafood restaurants. The business held a fundraiser last week for Braxton’s medical expenses and the family’s travel and incidental costs.
A family friend created a Gofundme fundraiser that remains open for donations.
Several Morgan City businesses have collaborated to sell jambalaya plate lunches along with to raise additional money for Braxton. The event is scheduled for Oct. 24 at Pool Do’s sports bar.
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