Update On Kid With The Brain Tumor (Colton Hahne)

About a year an a half ago, a bunch of you guys and gals from the Northwest club put together a quick get together for my son Colton because he had a brain tumor.

I just wanted to give you an update on his condition. We're very happy to announce that so far, he's tumor free! He goes back up to Portland in a couple of weeks for a full body MRI to make sure that there aren't any tumors anywhere else in his body. If that checks out, he'll only have to be checked every 6 months instead of every 3 months.

The first several months after the surgery to remove the tumor were extremely difficult for Colton. He had to learn to swallow again and was on a liquid diet for a quite while. He went through some really dark times emotionally as well. We weren't sure he would make it through those times.

Fortunately, he was able to dig himself out of that dark place and is now doing great. He Spent last summer as a camp counselor for a Christian youth bible camp. We attribute his remarkable turn around to spending so much time helping others and very little time thinking about himself. He's active in several Christian youth groups and has even taught himself to play the guitar from the Internet. He played in the worship portion of our Church a couple of weeks ago and we were very proud of him!

His goals for the future are to finish high school and become a Youth Pastor. This experience has left him with the desire to help other kids that are struggling with hard times and he has a unique set of experiences to draw on which helps him really empathize with troubled youth.

He speaks of the time when all the cool guys with the cool cars came to show him their cars and give him rides every time we drive past Salem.

Huge thanks again to eveyone who showed up to help Colton and our family through a very difficult time!

Your Friends,

Jeff, Patty, Colton, and Emily
[email protected]