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| I love my Daddy! He helps me walk on uneven ground. |
It is with a heavy heart that I write this post.
About a month ago, a "nodule" was identified on Aaron's follow up CT scan. He had one on Tuesday, May 15th and it showed some cause for concern.
Fortunately, we were able to be seen by Aaron's surgeon this morning
rather than having to wait until mid-June! Praise God! Unfortunately,
they are confident that the nodule we were hoping was fluid is actually a
recurrent sarcoma tumor. On his CT scan from a month ago, the nodule
was 8x1.8 millimeters and on his scan from Tuesday it is now measuring
32x21 mm. Obviously, it is growing which is another indicator of
concern. Some good news is that it seems to be encapsulated (contained)
just like the one Aaron had last year and the surgeon feels there is a
good chance it will just peel off his chest wall. The tumor is located
between the lung and where he is missing his rib from last year's
surgery, which is also great news as there will not be any risk of
paralysis or need for bypass surgery due to his aorta being involved.
Aaron was given the choice of scheduling a biopsy to confirm that it is a
cancerous tumor or to just head straight for surgery. Given their
confidence based on the CT scan and the fact that it has doubled in size
in one month, Aaron has chosen to schedule surgery. Surgery is
scheduled for Friday, June 1 (2 weeks from tomorrow) and UPMC Presby in
Pittsburgh. We will know what time the day before. There is a small
possibility that the surgery will be laparoscopic but we were hopeful of
this last year and it definitely was not the case! The surgery team
will use cameras prior to any major incisions to go in and see what the
inside of his body looks like and adjust their coarse of action
accordingly. If it cannot be done laparoscopically then it will be
almost exactly the same as last year, which means a long recovery is
ahead of us. One the plus side, his surgery is a month earlier than it
was last year so we might be able to enjoy the summer sun this year!
In preparation for surgery, Aaron will have a
PET scan and
PFT (Pulmonary Function Test)
done next week. These two tests will check to see if there are any
additional tumors that the CT has not identified as well as checking how
well his lungs are working.
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| Don't we look handsome!? Look at all of Daddy's hair! |
Obviously, we would appreciate your prayers. Below is a list of specific prayer and praise items that you can pray for:
1. Praise that they saw this tumor early when it is still small and has less of a chance to had adhered to important organs
2. Praise that Aaron's same surgery team will be the ones performing
this surgery as well. They are familiar with us, with Aaron's thought
process, and his body
3. Praise that we live so close to the medical facilities and that Aaron's oncology team has been following him so closely
4. Pray for strength and comfort for us and our family. It was really
hard to hear this diagnosis less than a year after the last one.
5. Pray that the PET scan will show no additional tumors and that this is an isolated one that can be easily removed
6. Pray that the surgery will be as minimal as possible, that Aaron's
body will handle it well, and his recovery will be smoother than last
year
Most importantly, please pray that God will use this for His glory.
Pray that He will use this to draw Aaron, Benjamin and me closer to Him
and closer to one another and that we will be a witness to those around
us, giving glory and praise to Him. Pray that He will use this to make
himself known to those who do not yet know Him.
We covet your prayers, love, and support through this. We wish we were
able to e-mail you with great news but we now prepare for the road ahead
of us and ask that you will do the same.
Aaron has taken the day off to spend with Benjamin and me. We are
headed to the zoo because what is a better way to spend a day off than
in the sunshine at the zoo enjoying our family!?
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| We are lookin' sharp after Easter Sunday service! |
