I’m a little more awake now, so I can talk a little more about what’s going on…

Noah has preliminarily been diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, which is a rare form of childhood liver cancer.  Only 1 in 1,000,000 people develop this type of cancer.  We never saw this coming.  He is a vibrant, playful boy.  He loves Mickey Mouse.  He loves to be tickled.  He loves to chase his brother’s dog around.  He loves to play with cars…just a normal kid. 

About a month or so ago, my wife noticed a bump on his abdomen.  Nothing huge, just a hard little knot that we thought was nothing more than gas or constipation.  After this didn’t go away, our doctor sent us to get an x-ray and a CAT scan.  We were sure there was nothing to worry about. 

On Thursday, he came to Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville.  The CT scan showed a growth in his liver.  After some initial confusion, we finally got to talk to the oncologist and the surgeons who were going to be managing this issue.   The specialists suspected that this was a tumor and it was most likely malignant.  They decided that a biopsy needed to be done in order to get a positive diagnosis. 

We are still pending the pathology report on the biopsy, but the surgeons and the oncologists both agree that this is Stage III Hepatoblastoma.  What this means is that the tumor is too large to be just “cut out”, or resected.  Chemotherapy must first shrink the tumor, then the surgeons will remove the diseased portion of the liver.  After this, Noah should live a normal, healthy life. 

This is of course the perfect outcome.  There are other scenarios that we are not even considering right now.  We have faith that Christ will protect our baby and he will be cured of this disease.  We have been overwhelmed with the response of those around us who have mobilized churches in about 4-5 states for prayer chains.  Friends and family members have been with my wife and I every step of the way, and we appreciate it more than anyone could ever know. 

Definite diagnosis and chemotherapy should start either today or tomorrow.  As I’ve taken to say, the circus starts today.   We will be meeting with doctors, care cooridinators, social workers, and a host of other people that we’re not even aware of.  But all of this is for our baby. 

Noah is so sweet and loving.  It will be difficult beyond words to see him go through chemotherapy, but we know that he has to.  He is one of the toughest kids I know.  By the grace of God, he’s gonna pull through all of this.