Diagnosis

James was diagnosed in December of 1998 with an optic glioma brain tumor.

Soon after diagnosis, James stopped eating altogether (and I mean ALL). By the time he was 1 1/2 years old, he had dropped to a mere 11 pounds.

http://www.caringbridge.org/in/james/photo.htm

James was started on chemotherapy with carboplatin and vincristine. Once the tumor began to shrink, he started eating again. Being sodium deficient, as most optic glioma patients are, he craved at first only salty things like chips and sausages. To this day, he absolutely loves salty things. After two years of this treatment, the tumor shrank approximately 80%. He was off treatment for two years, during which time the tumor grew back entirely. He then had chemo again with vinblastine. This slowed the tumor growth, but did not stop it.