Well, it's been awhile since the last post. The kids went back to school, I started playing volleyball again, Cory went back to work. Everything you'd expect with a New Year starting. However, things would change drastically for our family. So, sit back, grab a tissue and bear with the long story:
Our story begins last November. Cory, Tim and Tim's friend Luc went to a motorcycle race the first weekend of the month. The boys had a great time, and came home with lots of exciting race incidents to share. Tim told of how he had crashed once, but got right back on the bike and ended up finishing 2nd in his class! He ended up with a bruise on his left leg from the crash. No big deal, right? A week later, he was fine.
December comes around and Jr. Jazz starts up. Tim plays two games during the month and his team ends up winning. Tim scores his first points ever in a game during the first game. The first points of the game/season too! The team and season are looking good. But, Tim complains that his left leg hurts after a game or after a long day at school. So, he ices it and takes some ibuprofen for the swelling. During the holidays, he has about a two week break from basketball, and his leg is fine, again.
His first week back to school after the break, he came home a couple of times and complained that his leg was bothering him. Tim is starting to come home from school with a limp. Last Saturday, he had a basketball game. He gallops down the court and won't jump at all. He doesn't notice that he is doing this. Also, when he walks, his left foot is pointing out to compensate for the pain. Of course he doesn't realize that he is limping, he can't feel any pain. I decide it's time to take him in to be looked at.
So, last Tuesday, I take him to the new Urgent Care in Riverton. Why there? Because I wanted an x-ray of his leg, thinking he might have a stress fracture, and his primary doctor doesn't do in-office x-rays. So, a doctor looks him over and says he might have
Osgood Schlatter Disease. Okay, what is that? It is associated with growing too fast and what not. Makes sense because I cannot keep Tim in pants lately. But, we still have an x-ray to make sure. Well, the x-ray is not looking like the disease at all. I even saw the x-ray, and it was funky! So, an MRI is order for Wednesday.
Okay, grab a tissue. Tim goes in for his
MRI Wednesday morning. The tech says that it should take about 45 minutes. So, I sit in the waiting room for about an hour. Then my motherly instincts kick in and I question the receptionists about Tim. I am taken back to another waiting room and Tim comes out about 10 minutes later. The tech tells me that another doctor would like to speak with me back at the Urgent Care. So, Tim and I head down there. The doctor tells me that the tech noticed some things after a couple of images came up that looked like
Osteogenic Sarcoma. What is that? BONE CANCER! I don't even know what I did next. I just knew I had to be strong for Tim. We are given names and phone numbers of doctors at
Primary Children's Medical Center (PCMC) and told that a call hadbeen made to set up an appointment to see a specialist. As Tim and I are walking out to the truck, I lose it and start to tear up. Tim notices this and says, "Mom, it's only bone cancer." Appointments are set up for Friday morning, Cory ends up coming home early from Denver, he and Tim go to a Jazz game and my Mom and I take the girls out to dinner.
Thursday, Tim went back to school. We told him to keep quiet about things until we found out more Friday. Both Cory and I both had a crappy day. We both cried as we thought about Tim's future and questioned "why him?"
Friday, Cory and I take Tim up to PCMC and leave the girls in my Mom's care for the day. First we meet with an Orthopedic Specialist. He gets to know Tim better and exactly what led us to him. He then confirms the tech's thoughts about bone cancer. He orders a
CT scan of the lungs and some blood work. The CT scan comes back clear-the cancer is not in Tim's lungs. Next, we meet with an oncologist-cancer doctor-who talked to us about
chemo treatments and what to expect next. We checked into same day surgery, then leave the hospital for a couple of hours. Cory and I took Tim to a fast track where he and Cory drove super fast go-carts. Then we went to a motorcycle shop and looked around for awhile. Anything but the hospital; we will be spending a lot of time there soon enough.
Around 4, we were back at PCMC. Tim was scheduled for a
biopsy to see for sure if the bump just below Tim's left leg on the tibia, was indeed cancer. And also to find out what kind of bone cancer it is. Tim didn't go to surgery until 7pm. His doctor got caught in another surgery. So, while Tim was in surgery, Cory and I got acquainted with the sweetest couple from Highland. After about an hour, the doctor came out and gave us an update on Tim. YES, he does have cancer, but he not sure what kind yet. More tests have to be done so the right chemo treatment is given. Tim was in surgery for about hour or so to have a
central line "port" put in his chest for the chemo treatments. Tim was very loopy coming out of the medicine. It was quite comical! He was also in pain. So after receiving some medicine, he fell back asleep for awhile. We finally left PCMC around 12, gettin home close to 1am.
Today Tim did well. He was up for most of day either watching tv or playing Wii games. He also helped us, a little, to move his room from the basement to a room next to mine and Cory's. That was a difficult change for me. Looking to next week: Monday, Tim goes in for a
bone scan to see if the cancer has spread to other bones in his body. Lab work should be back by Tues or Wed. We might know by as early as Tues if the cancer is actually Osteosarcoma. If it is not, then we will not find out until Friday if the cancer is
Ewing's sarcoma. Chemo treatments could start as early as next Friday. Tim will most likely have 3 months of treatments, surgery to remove the tumor, then another 5-7 months of chemo. He will have to stay 3-5 days at PCMC while receiving the treatments. He will then go home for about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks, then back up for more treatments. Totally length will be about a year.
So, what does the future hold for us? I really don't know. Tim is going to be really sick, we will be spending a lot of time in a vehicle and at PCMC, and we are going to be tired. But, we will meet awesome people with inspiring stories. Tim will change, but hopefully in a good way, lessons will be learned and our bond as a family will grow stronger. We are grateful to have caught this early and that Tim is young and healthy. We have great families, awesome friends and an amazing ward family that are here to help out:) We are going to fight hard, and we will win!!
I will try to keep the blog updated as things happen :)
Here's Tim at lunch. He finished off his crab so fast!
We are looking to do a shaving party this Friday. More details will come as soon as we get things figured out. If anyone would like to shave their head, and does not live close by, please feel free to do it. We just ask that you send us a picture so we can put it up in Tim's room along with the cards he is getting :) Thx!
