Kemet McMillan
Kemet McMillan was born on May 8 to mom Gabrielle and dad Taylor. A very sweet guy from the start, he is often described as loving and genuinely cares so deeply for others. He is a Lego building champ and an expert video game player. He loves being outside and making visits to the local park to play. When he is not enjoying being outdoors, he likes to express his artistic side by drawing and painting.
Spending time with his family is so important to Kemet and he especially loves spending time with his grandparents and great grandmother.
Diagnosis
In the fall of 2025, Kemet's mom noticed several things that seemed unusual. They were in and out of the emergency room five or six times for different things before his actual diagnosis. Gabrielle says that Kemet always been emotionally expressive, but he started having explosive emotional breakdowns that were completely out of character for him. Then, it was the consistent bouts of constipation that we would have to take him to the doctor for. Shortly after that, she noticed that one of his legs had grown significantly longer than the other. About a week later, you could tell in his walk. About a week after that, for about two days, he was lethargic and would hardly respond, and when he did, he just did not seem like himself. Right before they went to the emergency room, he had multiple "accidents." The last one was him waking up screaming from a nap, saying that his head was hurting and that he had an accident.
Gabrielle rushed him to the hospital to find out the headaches had been from the fluid buildup due to the tumor blocking off a passageway for the spinal fluid to get to the spine. After all the tests and a biopsy provided at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, they finally had a diagnosis that rocked the entire family. They had never heard of DIPG before that day, and even with the description, his parents were left even more confused and feeling helpless in terms of how to shield or support Kemet. Or wondering what they could have done to prevent it. Gabrielle is sharing Kemet's story today to put everyone in the know that the body tells us things in many different ways, and to follow that gut feeling to act. It has been 8 months since the diagnosis. He has undergone radiation that resulted in a shrinkage in the tumor, as well as medication for that specific tumor and mutation. He is doing well and is back to his normal, excitable, bright, and expressive self. And although the diagnosis itself has shaken the family deeply, they are grateful for the support of everyone who has stood around them. Kemet's parents have an unshakable faith that this diagnosis will not win.
Kemet is fighting hard and is not defined by this diagnosis and the Archer Foundation is proud to join their family in their hope for more good days together.
