The Journey of Hope Begins

I almost don't know where to begin...this past Monday my wife and I took our youngest son, Cash, to Seattle Children's Hospital because we were concerned he hadn't fully recovered from what was diagnosed as torticollis.  Driving to the hospital we were happy and excited to get some sort of prescription for physical therapy to help his crooked neck.

After a few moments in the hospital room and the second doctor in as many minutes, we were told he'd need a CT Scan.  I took Cash to the room where they strapped his head down and took a brief scan of his head.  Still at this point I had no idea that in the next 15 minutes our entire life would change.

Fifteen minutes later we're told he has a growth around the stem of his brain and they would like to do an MRI that afternoon.  Multiple doctors came to the room and words such as 'tumor', 'cancer', 'growth', 'glioma', and 'cancer' started to surface.  It was at this point they checked us into the hospital where we were to stay in the 'SCCA' ward...when I asked what that acronym (one of many to come) meant, my heart started to sink even lower - it stands for Seattle Cancer Care Alliance...

Family and friends started to arrive (I will write at a later date how significant they were this week for my family) and on Tuesday afternoon we were told our precious little boy, 16 months old, has a tumor on his brain stem.  I still can barely utter those words and not break down so you can imagine how we felt just one day after taking him in for physical therapy (or so we thought).

The doctors did not believe his tumor fell into the 'classical' category so they wanted us to subject Cash to a biopsy on his brain stem to remove a few cells for further tests.  They explained that this operation was full of risks and they had never operated on someone this young and only do about 5 biopsies of this type per year.

On Wednesday Cash had brain surgery to take tissue samples to find out what kind of tumor he has, since this didn't fit the 'classic' tumor.  We spent the night in the ICU with Cash and while he had a 2 inch long scar on the back of his head the surgery was successful for all intensive purposes.  We finally went home on Friday and here we are waiting for the pathologists to finish their work.

Next week Wednesday we have our appointment with the oncologists, neurologists, radiation specialists, and a host of other 'gists' to discuss what kind of tumor he has and how to proceed to best treat our precious gift from God.

I think I could write a book about our emotions and event of just this one week, but I will use this blog to keep the many, many people who are concerned and praying for Cash updated on his progress.  A second purpose of this blog will most likely be for me to express our feelings and emotions of this significant and life-changing series of events. 

Our hearts ache for our son, who was a miracle in the first place, but (and as a pastor explained to me, but is a very important word in the Bible) we have an absolute faith in God our Father that His will will be done in Cash's life.  Many are asking what they can do to help, here's what I would ask:

Pray:
1. ...for a miracle that only God can provide;
2. ...for wisdom for the doctors and staff working with Cash;
3. ...for peace, courage, and strength for Wendi and I as we walk together down this road;
4. ...that we never give up hope, even in the midst of this tremendous struggle;
5. ...ultimately that God's will is done and that He is glorified.

I know that is a lot to pray for and there are many more I can add to the list, but that would be a great start.  We serve a God that is good and we do not know all of His ways and cannot even begin to understand Him, however, my faith is in Him and I trust Him with all of my life and the lives of my family.