Lofton Crouse is the inspiration for fundraising tourney

Lofton Crouse is the inspiration for fundraising tourney

By Lisa Crouse
Lofton is my youngest. When he was 5 years old, he was diagnosed with Diabetes Insipidus by Dr. Jennifer Bell at the Nemour’s Clinic at Sacred Heart in Pensacola. We were told then that most often D.I. is a result of a brain tumor affecting the pituitary gland, but at the time nothing showed up on his MRI.
Fast forward to February 2012, when Lofton went in for an annual check up. The labs were coming back out of whack, he had his second MRI and it showed the tumor this time at the base of his pituitary gland. Dr. Bell set us up to see Dr. Friedman at Children’s a week later. After monitoring Lofton’s labs, lumbar puncture, and more MRIs, we agreed to a biopsy in June 2012. Everyone felt confident that the tumor was a typical benign tumor. But low and behold- it’s cancerous.
He was diagnosed with Germinoma, had his port put in and two weeks after the biopsy, Lofton started his first round of chemo. He had 4 rounds of chemo, took a month off, then had six intense weeks of daily radiation. He finished therapy November 21. So far he remains in remission!
We went back to Children’s every three months for labs, lumbar puncture and MRI for the next year. (We Love, Love, Love Dr. Friedman!) We are blessed beyond words that Lofton is doing well and has had all the support he’s had through this whole process.
That’s our story in a nut shell. We know we’re among the fortunate for our child to be a survivor. We saw so many children struggling with survival and their parents devastated, so whatever I can do to give or to help is the least I can do.
Pictured: Lofton Crouse, the inspiration for the Reel Hope Classic fishing tournament.