A New Hurdle...

Hello friends and family, 

Unfortunately, as many of you have already known, last week was Sam's 7 year check-up with his oncologist, and we received some surprising and upsetting news. His initial scans came back showing a small tumor near the site of his original tumor. After extensive testing, we received a phone call today with the news that the tumor is, in fact, Ewing's sarcoma once again. 

Luckily, we caught it very early. It is a small tumor, is very operable, and hasn't been seen anywhere else in his body. He is also not in any kind of pain. This is all a complete contrast to what we experienced last time - the first time around, his tumor was very large, causing excruciating pain, and it's ability to be removed was questionable. We are feeling optimistic that this relapse will not be as challenging to overcome as it was the first time around.

We will find out tomorrow or Friday about his oncologist's recommended course of treatment, and will probably begin as early as possible, hopefully sometime next week. Most likely, this will involve chemotherapy followed by surgery. 

Obviously, things are a made slightly more complicated this time around, because of our daughter, and having a baby on the way. The goal is to get Sam nice and healthy for our little girl's arrival in early October.  

Overall, we are stressed and worried but trying to remain positive knowing that we caught it early and it is treatable. Doctors are optimistic as well. Sam is very positive, and says that when this is all over, he is taking the kids and I to Hawaii for a victory vacation! We will be looking forward to that!  

We will continue to update as often as we can on this blog, so please check back often. You can also become a "follower" of the blog, which I believe notifies you when a new update has been made.

To those of you who have sent us emails, text messages, or left a voicemail, thank you SO much for your support. We haven't had the opportunity to respond, but please know that your support and thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated. 

The first time around, your support, generosity, compassion, and positivity meant so much to us and got us through a lot of difficult times. We humbly ask for your thoughts and prayers this time around, too. 

Thank goodness for our wonderful daughter, who has been our source of comic relief for the week! Here are a couple of pictures that made us smile: 

We thought she was upstairs napping... until we went up and found that she had moved her chair to the top of the stairs and was just hanging out! 

 Playing with playdough. Her favorite thing to do is to make a bunch of snakes, then make a bunch of pillows and blankets and put them to bed!