For Son With Cancer, Mom Has Simple Request
Tanisha Davis with her son Taliq, who suffers from a rare form of brain cancer. Davis is requesting strangers send birthday cards for her son’s 10th birthday. (Photo: Facebook/Tanisha Davis)
A mother whose son is battling a rare brain cancer is asking for help from strangers to make the young boy’s upcoming birthday extra special.
Taliq Davis, who will turn 10 on July 22, was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), which causes a tumor to grow on the lower back of the brain, near the spinal cord, in February. “He’s been in the hospital for 60 days over the last four months, and has had four surgeries,” his mother, Tanisha Davis, tells Yahoo Parenting. He has also gained 55 pounds as a result of the cancer. “He wasn’t able to finish the school year because his immune system was compromised and he wasn’t feeling well enough to go. He’s sort of lost touch with the outside world.”
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Which is why Taliq, who lives in Kileen, Tex., was so excited when his aunt sent him a get-well card in the mail. “I told him it was coming, and every day he checked the mail,” Davis says. “A few days later my coworker sent a card, and it’s become a habit for him to check the mail every day.”
That’s what gave Davis the idea to ask friends and strangers to mail Taliq birthday cards. “As his mother, I can’t remove the tumor, but I’ll do what I can to bring a smile to his face,” she says.
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These days, Taliq’s quality of life is significantly compromised, Davis says. “He’s had a headache every day for the past six weeks, but doctors can’t find the cause. They say it’s not from the tumor,” she says. “But he’s a trooper. One thing about us is our faith is very strong, so Taliq reads his children’s Bible every night, and when he’s having a bad day he prays, and I pray, and we continue on.”
But Davis wants to make this upcoming birthday for Taliq, her youngest of four children, especially memorable. His father will take him to the racetrack, and he’ll enjoy a block party in his honor. The cards, Davis hopes, will be the final touch.
“Even though it may seem like a small thing, to him it’s really a big deal,” she says. “To know he has supporters who don’t even know him, who are willing to take time out of their day and give him encouragement, that helps him fight and be strong. With everything he’s been through, there are days Taliq feels like giving up. Encouragement coming from me, it’s just mom. But coming from others, he can really take it and run with it. I just want him to know he has a ton of support so he can pull through.”
Cards can be mailed to: Taliq Davis, 5106 Donegal Bay Ct., Killeen, TX 76549.
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