The Acreage Cancer Study

By Steve Dorfman

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Posted: 3:32 p.m. Monday, Dec. 5, 2011

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For the parent of a cancer-stricken boy, there's but one desperate, overriding thought: "He just has to survive."

That's been Summer Orton-Smith's mantra since late October, when the Palm Beach Gardens massage therapist and her former husband, Steven Smith, were faced with the unthinkable: Their 5-year-old son Brock had a large, malignant brain tumor pressing against his brain stem.

He needed immediate surgery.

"We were numb, in shock, just going on autopilot. We didn't even have time to be scared," recalls Orton-Smith, 33, of the early days that would turn her life upside-down.

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