Most kids would be happy to miss a few weeks school, but Phillip Massey is not like most kids. Phillip had a tumor growing at the base of his skull. YNN’s Casey Bortnick his story.

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Most kids would be happy to miss a few weeks school, but Phillip Massey is not like most kids.
For Phillip, starting a new calendar year at the Charles Finney School is fun compared to the way he spent his summer vacation.

"Basically dealing with doctors and hospitals and radiation machines," Phillip Massey explained.

Last June, Phillip started having headaches. That was followed by double vision.

"I thought that there might be something wrong with my head because that pain from the headache was unusual," said Massey.

Turns out Phillip was right. Dr. Amy-Lee Bredlau is Phillip's oncologist.

"He had a tumor at the very base of his skull," said Dr. Bredlau.

A cancerous mass was growing in an area of the brain that controls memory and balance. Although it was caught early, removing it would be tricky.

"The surgeries are very, very long. They usually last between seven and eleven hours," said Dr. Bredlau.

"The stuff that knocks you out. I just hope they did a good job with that," said Massey.

Neurosurgeons were able to remove the tumor and preserve most of the healthy tissue surrounding it. For Phillip, the long road to recovery was just beginning.

"He had radiation every day for about six weeks and chemotherapy once a week for six weeks," said Dr. Bredlau.

Radiation caused Phillip to lose weight and left sores on his skin. Then there's the chemo and the fatigue and common side effects that come with it.

Phillip wears a hat to cover his hair loss and two small scars. He'll continue his treatment for five more months.

"The hardest parts are behind me and all I need to do is just recover," said Massey.

It's Philip's will to push forward and to get better. That's helped his family believe there are brighter days ahead.

"And it just puts a smile on my face and I know it does the same for his mom," said Phillip Massey, Sr., Phillip’s father.

And whether it's at home with his two brothers, or at school with his friends…Phillip’s learned it's important to set a good example.

"Everyone I meet who knows about it says I'm so tough and I really didn't understand at first why they were saying I'm tough I'm like I don't get it,” said Massey.