drewsauntbecki

Denise, I know you've heard it a lot, but my heart goes out to you and your family. I lost my mom suddenly in February just 5 days before my wedding. I wasn't with her like I always thought I would be. She was a cancer survivor having a large sarcoma removed from her thigh 3 years ago. What took her was an aortic aneurysm. I had just talked to her an hour before on the phone and she was so happy. I'd been a single mom for almost 5 years and she was so happy that I'd found someone who loves me and my kids. We were talking about the wedding and the kids and you could just hear the happiness in her voice. She died an hour later. My uncle was staying with her and called me to meet the ambulance at the hospital because she had "passed out" but it didn't look good. I got to the hospital 15 minutes later and she was already gone. I didn't get to say goodbye, but our last conversation will never be forgotton. Now, this weekend is grandparents day, which was her favorite holiday. She was so proud of my children, the only grandkids she saw. Hang on to those good memories and know that your mom loved you and she's in a better place keeping a good watch on you. God Bless, Becki

Drew took a bad turn yesterday. He woke up throwing up a lot of blood. He had been home and doing fairly ok recovering. They rushed him back up to U of MI. His heart is enlarged and surrounded by blood. They put a drain in and are giving him blood but thought they would take him to surgery last night if they could get him stable enough. They are taking the lung out. His heart rate was in the 140's last night. I haven't heard an update yet this morning. As far as the cancer goes, they are still not sure what course of action they are going to take. It's very rare and he is the youngest case so far reported. Prayers and thoughts are very much appreciated. His 17th b-day is next Friday. Thank you, Becki

Hi all, I wish I had better news to share. Drew's surgery was yesterday and the Dr. told his mom it was very unusual. The tumor took up his entire pulmonary artery which had to be removed. They spared the lung for now, attached a different artery to start pumping blood back into the lung. I think she said it was about 90% damaged, but hoping to revive it with a new blood supply. The tumor was a spindle cell sarcoma. I haven't had much time to research yet, but what they told her was that it attacks muscles. I think it is similar to the tumor my mom had a few years back in her leg (she had to have 3 of the 4 quads in her thigh removed with the tumor). The docs also said he probably has it elsewhere in his body. For now he's in ICU and they are monitoring the lung. That's all I know for now. In everything I've read, I've never heard the terms spindle cell. Can anyone explain this if they've heard of it? I'm off to research some more. Thanks again - I've included this entire board on my prayer list, those going thru this now and those more than willing to share info and prayers. God Bless, Becki

Thank you all for our kind words and prayers. My sister in law has a friend whose dad retired from U of Michigan and they are taking him and his test results up there tomorrow. They've postponed surgery until then, but he says it sounds like they've done as much testing as possible under the circumstances. She and her family went to church on Sunday and left feeling a little more comforted. Her mom, my former mother in law, lives in NY and I drove up to get her and bring her here on Sunday. As you can probably tell, I am very close to my former in laws. They always tell me that even though her son left me, they didn't. It's a little odd for my new husband, but I really have no family of my own since my mom passed away in Feb. Anyway, thanks again for everyone's support and prayers. I will keep you posted on what they say in Michigan. God Bless, Becki

I'm sorry to have to post to a message board, but am searching for answers. My nephew is almost 17 and was just diagnosed with a tumor in his lung. They first thought it was a pulled muscle, then pneumonia, then a pulmonary embolism. Yesterday they did a PET scan and confirmed it is a tumor. He is scheduled to have it and the lung removed on Wednesday. We are all so scared. He has baseball scouts watching him for college. I can find nothing to read that pertains to someone his age. He is otherwise a healthy, non smoking teenager. It's been an awful few days for us. Any guidance or suggestions would be appreciated. thanks, Becki