Hi all, it’s Dave filling in for Cheryl.

Cheryl made an appointment this past Tuesday with our family doctor about Joel’s headaches…they didn’t seem normal to us and were getting worse, more frequent and lately waking up with them and sometimes with vomitting just after he gets up or is woken up by the headaches…she was told that they were migraines and to treat it symtomatically…with Advil or Tylenol. This advice didn’t sit well with us and sought the opinions of friends and family…getting a second opinion was the most popular response we got. We talked it over and decided to take Joel to our regional children’s hospital (Friday morning).

We got there and Joel looked totally fine and were almost afraid to bring him in for fear of being immediately sent home. Triage labelled him as urgent, to our surprise. We were almost certain he would again be diagnosed with migraines, and to our surprise the resident ordered a CT scan just to be certain…within a couple hours that was completed and we were visited by the resident as well as the staff doctor…more than one doctor, didn’t seem like good news.
The CT revealed a large growth at the back of the brain and immediate surgery was the course needed to be taken. An MRI was ordered ASAP in order to learn the extent of the tumour so that an action plan (surgical) could be made. Thankfully it is NOT wrapped around the brain stem and is only on one side of the brain. The bad news is that it is more than likely malignant but a biopsy will be done at the time of surgery to be sure.

Surgery is scheduled for first thing Saturday morning…Joel goes under anesthesia at about 8:30 and the surgery could take 8 to 14 hours. This surgery is by no means a cake walk, given the risks, but there is also a good chance of success. We were informed that the surgeon who will be working on Joel is a world renown neurosurgeon and that surgically we couldn’t be in better hands. Over all we realize that Joel is in, and always has been in, the Great Physician’s hands. We take great comfort in that combination.

Please pray for the best possible outcome for this surgery…for God to carry us in His love and with His overwhelming peace…for Joel especially and also for his sibblings and of course his parents. May God be glorified in all our experiences.