When he was 9 years old, Anthony “A.J.” De La Torre’s jiu jitsu instructor gave him a nickname: The Silent Assassin.
That alter ego also applies to how A.J., now 16, has spent the last seven years battling a foe he can’t see that is trying to destroy him from the inside: recurrent medulloblastoma, a cancerous brain tumor that is rare but is the most common form of brain tumor in children.
A quiet fighter, A.J. keeps defying the odds despite two relapses and illnesses that required him to twice go on hemodialysis and spend five weeks in CHOC’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), with breathing and other issues that at certain points became very grave.
A.J.’s large team of champions includes Dr. Vanessa Wong, a pediatric critical care physician who admitted him to the PICU early this year after he was rushed to the Julia & George Argyros Emergency Department following a seizure and suffering another seizure in the ED.
“Dr. Wong’s dedication and compassion towards A.J. and our family will forever be etched in our hearts,” says A.J.’s mother, Carolina Valls.
Back a second time
Following that first night in the PICU, A.J. was safely extubated and transferred out of the unit.
But things took a turn for the worse and A.J. was re-intubated three days later after going into respiratory failure because of parainfluenza and was back in the PICU, beginning his 2 ½-month stay there under the care of several physicians.
“Even if Dr. Wong wasn’t assigned as his doctor, she checked in several times to see how he was doing,” Carolina recalls.
The brain cancer afflicting A.J. started in the lower back part of the brain (the cerebellum) that is involved in muscle coordination, balance and movement. Medulloblastoma tends to spread through the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds and protects the brain and spinal cord.
A.J. was in fourth grade when he started mysteriously vomiting.
Doctors at another pediatric hospital diagnosed him with the cancer in December 2017, eight days before his 10th birthday. Later, they removed 95% of a tennis-ball-sized tumor (the other 5% had infiltrated his brainstem).
Despite intensive chemotherapy and radiation treatment, A.J. relapsed in May 2020 and a second time in April 2022.
After the first relapse, A.J. underwent a stem cell transplant and after the second relapse, he underwent additional chemotherapy with proton radiation.
He also has had three craniotomies to resect his brain tumors.
Kidney issues
A.J. came into the care of CHOC’s ED in early 2024. However, he was at CHOC nearly a year before his lengthy stay in the PICU as a hemodialysis patient.
Doctors at A.J.’s previous hospital didn’t think he ever would be off dialysis. But CHOC’s nephrology team was able to achieve that in late March 2023.
Ann Fulcher, A.J.’s dialysis nurse coordinator, changed A.J.’s central line dressings every week and “would go above and beyond,” Carolina says.
Recalls Ann: “I was so happy when he went off dialysis. I saw all that his family had to go through. It’s been very tough on them. I have high respect for them, and A.J. has been so strong fighting this battle.”
A rare patient
When A.J. came to CHOC’s ED in January 2024, he also needed help with oxygen. Pulmonologists, including Dr. Neil Nakra, medical director of pediatricpulmonology, began treating him.
So did Dr. Antonio Arrieta, medical director of the pediatric infectious disease team.
After his discharge from the PICU, A.J. moved to the oncology unit. He finally was able to go home in late March.
Dr. Wong says it’s rare to see a child with such high disease acuity admitted to the PICU and seen all the way through discharge.
“A.J. is a patient that I will remember forever,” says Dr. Wong. “Although I only cared for him for a short time, his resiliency and positivity are something that stood out me.”
When Dr. Wong first met A.J., she thought he was going to be in and out of the hospital quickly.
“When he unfortunately ended up back in the PICU much sicker I was worried that he might not make it out of the hospital,” Dr. Wong recalls. “But, as I learned quickly, A.J. is a quiet fighter and full of determination. To see him through his journey in the PICU to the oncology floor and to finally see him on the day he was discharged home was truly remarkable.”
A.J. loves to draw. As a gift to Dr. Wong on his discharge, he gave her a gift:
A hand-drawn and colored picture of Choco, CHOC’s beloved mascot.
The inscription reads:
Thank you for taking care of me.
Dr. Wong proudly displays it in her home.
Making the best of things
During an MRI at the end of August 2024, CHOC doctors detected a progression of A.J.’s cancer in his brain and spine.
As a result, he restarted chemotherapy.
By mid-October, MRI results showed that overall, everything looked stable. And by late that month, A.J. was still off dialysis.
He continues to require oxygen 24/7 although there has been improvement in his breathing status, Carolina says.
“It’s day to day, but he makes it easier on us,” says A.J.’s father, Richard De La Torre. “He’s always been a calm, chill kid. And he doesn’t complain a lot. We also lean on God.
“We’ve endured, he’s endured, so we make the best of our daily lives. The negativity can wear you down if you let it.
“In all our hospital stays, we’ve never felt closer or more taken care of than during his PICU stay, and the dialysis nurses never let us down. Despite being remarkably busy, they always stayed on top of things.”
A miracle teen
Members of A.J.’s care team continue to view him as a miracle.
“He has defeated every prognosis he has ever been given,” Carolina says.
She praises CHOC doctors, nurses, and other care team members who work tirelessly to heal, comfort, and uplift other patients and families.
“Thank you for being the everyday heroes that make a difference in the lives of so many,” Carolina says.
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Learn more about the Hyundai Cancer Center at CHOC
CHOC Hospital was named one of the nation’s best children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report in its 2024-25 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings and ranked in the cancer specialty.
