My brother was to bring the pizzas, I had made snacks and we were all waiting for a great Colts win.
The day didn't turn out the way we expected.
And the days following got even worse.
About 30 minutes before the game, Mark called and said he was waiting to see if his wife could make it home before it was time to come over.
Joetta's 15-year-old nephew is an overall athlete, a sophmore at his high school. With just a couple odd minor symptoms in the last couple weeks, Sunday he woke up and was more or less paralyzed on one side of his body. He couldn't walk and was slurring his speech.
They rushed him to the emergency room that morning. Several tests were ran. By the time Mark called me, it appeared that most of the test didn't appear as serious as the symptoms would suggest. So Mark first came to the house and an hour later, Joetta left the hospital to come watch the rest of the game. It was apparently just some type of inflammation and they put him on antibiotics and we were watching the results.
Ironically, Kevin was placed in the new Peyton Manning Childrens Hospital at St. Vincent, on Super Bowl weekend and Kevin is NOT a Colts fan nor a Peyton fan. The family put posters of Peyton in the room to encourage him to rally up and get out of the hospital as soon as possible.
On Monday, word came back that it may indeed be a tumor in the brain. They would need a biopsy to determine if it was cancer, the problem was it was located at the pons area of the brain. They determined that biopsy could not be performed.
Kevin's favorite coach is from KY Wildcats. After hearing Kevin's story, Coach Calipari braved the nasty snow storm we had earlier this week and flew up to visit Kevin in the hospital.
Last night, they had a diagnosis.
Pontine Glioma.
Researching this only brings siginificant heartache. The "best" news is that with radiation, Kevin will respond well to radiation, recover somewhat and will have a recurrence in 5 to 9 months. The experts and research all agree that a year is to be expected.
Due to the advancement of the tumor, they began radiation therapy last night and another this morning. So far the response seems to be less than hopeful. We are all praying, we all have hope.
I sincerely want to believe there is fairness in this world. It's just so hard to see through the fog of pain, stunned disbelief and how a happy healthy 15 year old is playing football, basketball and baseball one minute dealing with some evil deadly tumor the next.
Please, please, pray for a miracle for Kevin tonight and wish all of his family peace.
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4 comments:
I am so sorry your family is faced with this devastating situation. It is so very difficult.
There are other families walking this path. If you'd like to connect, to talk, to gather information, just to know other people have experienced the same roller coaster emotions, you are invited to join with us.
I find great comfort in talking with other families on the following site:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/DIPG/
I hope and pray for a great response to radiation. And many more blessings such as Coach Calapari's visit along the way.
With hope & understanding -
Kim Spady
Tough. Kevin needs a miracle.
Let's all pray one his way!
So very sad. My sympathies to you and to Kevin. Unfair doesn't begin to cover it.
Kim: Thanks for the link. I see that you have experienced that horrible horrible heartache. It's nice you are helping other families through this. I'll be sure to forward the information on to them.
Thx Greybeard and Leeann, it appears that he really really needs that miracle.
They got a feeding tube put in yesterday and a pic line today. They are praying there will be some improvement with the additional treatments and nutrition.
He joined our family last year for a big camping/fishing weekend and he so loved it. We're hoping they get him stable enough to join us again in May.
Yeah, let's all pray him a miracle. Please.
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