Two California siblings, aged four and six, are battling cancer together after doctors discovered they both had brain tumors.
Kalea and Noah Avery were diagnosed within two weeks of each other after they both started experiencing severe headaches.
Now their parents Duncan and Nohea Avery are rallying around their two children and preparing for a long road to recovery.
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Siblings Kalea, six, (left( and Noah Avery, four, (right) are both battling cancer together after being diagnosed with brain tumors just two weeks apart
It was six-year-old Kalea who first began to experience the intense headaches. After they continued for a couple of weeks, her parents took her to the hospital.
That's when doctors revealed the shocking news - Kalea had Medulloblastoma, a cancerous tumor at the base of the skull that tends to spread to other parts of the brain, as well as the spinal cord.
As she was hospitalized and prepared for surgery, her four-year-old brother Noah began experiencing eerily similar symptoms.
Tests were ran and doctors had to deliver the devastating news once again - their youngest child also had a mass in the same exact area as his sister.
'It was devastation with both kids, but when we found out about my son, we were just blown away that this could happen in the same family,' Duncan told KTLA.
Kalea (pictured top) was the first to be diagnosed after she began experiencing severe headaches. Just two weeks later, Noah started showing eerily similar symptoms
Tests were ran and doctors had to deliver the devastating news once again - Noah (pictured after surgery) had a mass in the same exact area as his sister
It is a shattering case that has mystified the family's pediatrician, oncologist, and neurosurgeon, who all said they have never seen two siblings diagnosed with brain tumors so close together.
Kalea underwent surgery and had the tumor removed on June 11. Her brother's tumor was removed on June 25.
Now both children are preparing to undergo intensive courses of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, according to a GoFundMe page set up for the family.
In an update the family revealed that Noah is in the pediatric intensive care unit following surgery and is 'talking, eating, and moving all his body parts'.
'It was devastation with both kids...we were just blown away that this could happen in the same family,' said father Duncan Avery (pictured with Noah and wife Nohea)
It is a case that has mystified the family's pediatrician, oncologist, and neurosurgeon, who all said they have never seen two siblings diagnosed with brain tumors so close together
Kalea underwent surgery and had the tumor removed on June 11
Her family have since posted photos of her smiling through her recovery
'These are all very reassuring signs that he does not have posterior fossa syndrome,' they said, referring to the postoperative syndrome that can cause mutism, speech disturbances, or decreased motor movement.
The family said Noah still requires pain medication and remains 'quite sleepy' but they hope the drain from his skull will be removed in a few days.
Kalea continues to recover in the oncology ward and, on Wednesday, was able to go outside for the first time in 20 days.
The family said Noah still requires pain medication and remains 'quite sleepy' but they hope the drain from his skull will be removed in a few days after the surgery
Duncan, a surf coach at a Redondo Beach high school, and Nohea, a nurse practitioner, have both taken time off work to be with their children
The family happily reported that she was 'even able to slide down a small slide by herself'.
Duncan, a surf coach at a Redondo Beach high school, and Nohea, a nurse practitioner, have both taken time off work to be with their children.
'I don't know how I'm going to get through this, but you do,' Nohea said.
'You find a way. You look at your children, you hold them, and you just find a way.'
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