I am very happy to tell you that Patrick’s report came back benign, no cancer. Hallelujah! Praise the LORD!

Ich bin sehr gluecklich mitteilen zu koennen das Patrick’s Tumor Gutartig ist und er keinen Krebs hat. Gott sei Gedankt!

Today we had to be at UNC Chapel Hill at 6 am. The surgery was at 7:30 am and lasted until 10:00 am. Patrick had a tumor removed from his upper left. The tumor was located in the bone and was the size of a small Kiwi. They removed the tumor and part of the bone. They sealed it with a cement/synthetic bone marrow. The cut is about 7 inches long and needed 15 staples. He has a metal plate in his leg and three screws. We got wonderful news that the tumor is benign. Praise the Lord for that! We are still in the hospital and hope to be released early in the morning. Tim is staying in the Hotel to get some work done and I will stay in the hospital with Patrick. He is running a slight temperature and hope it will be gone by tomorrow. Thank you all for the loving prayers, visits, encouraging words, meals, and just being there for us.

Today we went to UNC Chapel Hill to see Patrick’s surgeon. We woke up at 4 am and had to drive 3.5 hrs. Patrick will have his surgery Monday, March 22nd at UNC. They will do a 10 cm incision and will take the tumor out to send in for biopsy. They will put in a Stainless Steel plate and 3 screws to stabilize the rest of the bone. There won’t be much left of a bone in his leg of the area below the hip and upper leg and they will put in a Synthetic Bone Marrow. The doctors believe it’s benign, but we won’t know for sure until it’s send in. Thank you al so much for your prayers. Keep praying.

Patrick fell in the snow about 2.5 weeks ago and hurt his leg, which seemed to be an injury to his muscle. He was still not able to walk on his left leg, so I took him to the Pediatrician. She was concerned and told us to go to the Orthopedic Surgeon the same day. The Orthopedic Surgeon took an x-ray and told us some very disturbing news. Patrick has a very large bone tumor in his leg. You can see on this picture  a dark spot right under the hip and on the leg. It is very large so you can’t miss it. I was very upset in the office, but the doctor did tell me that it looks benign. We are not sure a 100% until the surgery is done. We are traveling on Friday to Chapel Hill to UNC to prepare for the surgery. The tumor will have to be taken out and Patrick will need a bone graph and take some steroids to help the healing process. Please continue praying for him and the entire family. It is very difficult on parents when they get news like that. Just a thought, if Patrick had not fallen in the snow we might have not found out that he even had a bone tumor.

I circled it in this picture.

Patrick ist vor 2.5 Wochen im Schnee gefallen und hat sich am Beim verletzt. Die Verletztung sah mehr aus wie eine Muskelzerrung. Er konnte aber weiterhin nicht auf dem linken Bein auftreten und laufen und habe ihn zum Kinderarzt gebracht. Die Kinderaerztin war besorgt und sendete uns sofort zum Specialisten. Dort wurde in einer Roentgenaufnahme festgestellt das Patrick einen sehr grossen Knochentumor am Bein hat. Ich war sehr im Schock als ich diese Nachrichten bekam, der Doktor denkt nicht das es boesartig ist. Wir wissen es aber nicht 100% bis nach der operation. Wir werden am Freitag in eine Specialklinik nach Chapel Hill fahren wo mehrere Test gemacht werden fuer die Vorbereitung von Patrick’s grosse operation. Das Tumor muss entfernt werden und neuer Knochenmark muss eingesetzt werden. Steroid Spritzen werden gegeben um die Heilung der Knochen zu foerdern. Bitte betet fuer uns und der ganzen Familie. Es ist sehr schwer fuer Eltern wenn die Kinder krank werden. Noch ein kleiner Gedanke von mir, waere Patrick nicht im Schnee gefallen, haetten wir den Tumor noch lange nicht gefunden.