Toddler’s last chemo the day before Thanksgiving

The family of a Suffolk toddler who on Wednesday completed what they pray will be his final chemotherapy has a whole lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Gideon Thompson was diagnosed with nodular desmoplastic medulloblastoma, a fast-growing brain cancer, two weeks after his first birthday in April.

“When I first heard it, I said, ‘I’m going to need to write that down,” mom Jenny Thompson said.

Before he suddenly stopped walking, Gideon was a “perfectly normal newborn and infant,” she said.

The day he was taken to the pediatrician, mom added, Gideon couldn’t hold his head up.

He was transferred to the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughter’s, where a CT scan revealed a brain tumor the size of a tennis ball.

In the hospital’s intensive care unit, Gideon underwent two surgeries to drain spinal fluid causing cerebral spinal pressure and horrible headaches.

A few weeks later, he went under neurosurgeon John Birkness’ scalpel for an eight-hour surgery to remove the tumor.

“He (Birkness) was able to 100-percent resect his brain tumor,” Thompson said. “They were able to get it all.”

The biopsy confirmed the tumor as medulloblastoma, which is known to grow back aggressively.

Gideon’s oncologist, Raven Cooksey, recommended a dozen rounds of chemo.

The toddler went in for his first round June 9, Thompson said. Each round has lasted about four days.

“He’s done incredibly well,” she said, adding Gideon’s side effects from the various drugs have been minimal.

In fact, Thompson said, her son was about the most active kid in his ward, even challenging fellow patients to IV pole races.

“There were only a few instances of vomiting,” she said.

Mouth sores are a common chemotherapy side effect, but Gideon didn’t have any. His mom said this was because she breastfeed him throughout.

Despite his ordeal, Gideon has only very minor developmental delays, his mother said. “Gideon does have delays in speech, but he did spend quite a lot of time completely sedated,” she said.

“For now, he’s walking, he’s saying some words. They are very, very happy with the development.”

He passed his first hearing screening, and was due for another test after Wednesday.

Gideon is Jenny and Tony Thompson’s first biological child. His siblings include Brooke, 11, Taylor, 6, Alexander, 3, and Carellynn Thompson, 19.

Jenny Thompson described Gideon as God’s answer to 10 years of prayer, and she and her husband could never have predicted how well he would live up to the name they gave him.

“Gideon means mighty warrior of God, and he’s fought such a huge battle,” Jenny Thompson said.

The Thompsons were planning a family Thanksgiving at their Suffolk home, where Gideon, his mother said, would “eat turkey and mashed potatoes — the boy loves to eat.”

“There is so much to be thankful for,” Jenny Thompson said. “We really value the simple things in life, now: playing in the grass and jumping in the puddles.

“When it rains, I get him dressed up in his rain coat and just let him splash around.”