Ezekiel "Zeke" Longoria
​Ezekiel "Zeke" Longoria was born on March 21, 2021 to his mom Krystal and from that first day made her life more fulfilling than she could have ever imagined. Zeke is truly the light in so many people's lives. From his smile to his incredible sense of style, he truly knows how to make his presence known in a room. He is very outgoing and says hi to just about anyone he sees especially other children. He has a natural gift for friendship and his kind heart draws people to him. He gets so excited when he meets another child and immediately greets them or asks if they want to play! His mom says, "Zeke's positive energy and strength changed my life for the better pre-diagnosis! I knew he was special and with purpose, I just never knew in detail how great it be!"
Zeke enjoys going to school mostly because he gets to play with his friends, although he tolerates his schoolwork and always does his best! His favorite thing to do are to play with his stuffed animals such as Mickey and Friends, his Jesus doll, watch Ms. Rachel, or use just about anything to make race tracks and ramps for his Disney Pixar Cars to race. Zeke and his fur-sister, Ayla enjoy playing outside with their many bubble machines.
Zeke and Krystal also like to watch movies together like Home Alone part 1 and 2, Hocus Pocus, and a few other Disney movies. When he finally does slow down, he likes to stream kids YouTube on his tablet. Make-A-Wish granted Zeke and his family a trip to Disney World and by far it has been his favorite trip! Zeke is crazy for all things Disney!
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Diagnosis
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One weekend in October of 2023 Zeke was not feeling well at all and was throwing up. He had been feeling a bit under the weather and had a lot of congestion so his mom suspected that was making him sick to his stomach. She scheduled an appointment with his pediatrician and she diagnosed an ear infection, pink eye and the flu and got him started on antibiotics. Just regular kid sickness. But a few days later, Krystal followed up with the doctor again because he was running fever and looked like he was having tremors or shaking in his hands and legs, not so much like a seizure but still very concerning. The doctor said to stop giving him the antibiotic and she saw him again the following day. She suggested he get an EEG and MRI done to look for the source of the tremors.
Earlier that week, before Zeke even showing signs of sickness, his speech pathologist suggested he see a neurologist because she was concerned that he was not able to produce two word sentences. His mom had already been trying to get that appointment, but the neurologist was not able to schedule him for another year which now, combined with the tremors was way too long to wait. Thankfully his pediatrician was able to phone a colleague at the children's hospital where they live near San Antonio to get him seen sooner. At the hospital, they began testing and Zeke's EEG came back normal but on October 28, 2023, the MRI showed that he had a tumor in his brainstem and his mom received the devastating diagnosis of DIPG. Zeke began treatment in Houston and endured 30 rounds of radiation like an absolute champ and then his mom made the decision to travel to Children's Medical Center in Dallas so he would be able to participate in an ONC201 clinical trial. They now commute from their home outside of San Antonio to Dallas regularly for Zeke's care and have won over his entire healthcare team with his his undimmable energy and colorful suits that he insists on wearing to all of his visits!
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The Archer Foundation has been captivated by Krystal and Zeke's constant positivity and belief that his story has so much still to be written. Zeke is a walking ray of sunshine and we are proud to support them as they spread that joy everywhere they go!
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