HOW my SON WAS DIAGNOSED WITH AN ANAPLASTIC astrocytoma (CANCEROUS BRAIN TUMOR) GRADE 3...
David, who was named after my father, his mother's father and my eldest brother, was the eldest of my three boys. He was brought up in the church and had a very strong personal relationship and love for Jesus. When this all began, David was in 3rd grade. He loved going to church, playing soccer and seeing his friends and family.
The first flag was raised when David (8 yrs old at the time) started having strange feelings. In the mornings he would say he felt like he had to vomit and he would rush to the bathroom. He never did vomit and the feelings went away within 3-5 minutes. After almost two weeks of this pattern David was kept home from school because his brother had a wellness checkup and his mother decided to take David along to discuss the symptoms and have him checked out.
Before leaving our home, David was riding his bike, suddenly stopped and went over to his mother to say the left side of his body was tingly. A minute or two later he said that now his entire left side of his body felt heavy. God was watching out for David so this could be directly communicated to his mother and she could witness it first hand.
At the doctor visit that day all the test results came back within normal parameters which prompted David's primary care physician to send David for an MRI. The day of the MRI arrived and we went as a family to Selinsgrove for the appointment and planned to go to dinner at Red Robin together when finished. David did a great job and was nice and still for the lengthy scan(s). We thanked the nurses and technicians and proceeded to our dinner plans.
His mother received a phone call from David's primary care physician before we even finished eating and we were directed to meet him at Geisinger Medical Center so we could talk and so we could be introduced to a pediatric oncologist. Obviously, this got out full attention. We finished out meals quickly and proceeded directly to Geisinger. As we walked into the entrance to the hospital we met David's primary care physician and he took us up to meet the pediatric oncologist.
We learned through that meeting that there was an unknown tumor in David's left frontal temporal lobe. The first step was to schedule a biopsy surgery to find out exactly what we were up against. David was admitted immediately and they started trying to schedule the surgery for as soon as possible. The following Saturday David had his biopsy and he was allowed to go home the next day Sunday.
In a very short amount of time the diagnosis came back that David indeed had a cancerous brain tumor. He fought for around 3 years. David went to be with Jesus on April 12, 2018 in our home surrounded by his brothers, his mother and I.