Biopsy – another step behind us

This morning, bright and early and without much sleep behind us, we left for Children’s Hospital so Jacob could get an open biopsy on his femur.  The drive in was good, a few tears from us all when this song came on.

We tried to let the line “ let it go, my soul, and trust in Him, the wind and waves still know his name..” sink in as we got closer to the hospital and anxieties became more heightened.

When we arrived Jacob was gowned up and numbing cream put on his hands for the IV.  A nurse came to chat with us on the procedure, then the resident ortho surgoeon as well as the anastesiologist.

We then had a man come in from the B.C. BioBank, asking us if they could collect and bank any leftover specimen from Jacob’s biopsy of the tumor in his femur for future research. He explained there are only around 10 pediatric cases of osteosarcoma in B.C. every year and that it’s a “rare” specimen to get. He assured us that nothing extra would be taken from Jacob’s bone, but only if there was leftover would they use that and only when the surgeon and pathologists released it, and that it would be used ethically.  We decided to accept in hopes that it can be used down the road to detect osteosarcoma earlier and better methods and medications to destroy this beast.

The Orthopedic Surgeon then came to discuss some of the things he had seen on Jacob’s MRI and how he would perform the biopsy and remove the sample without contaminating any other part of Jacob during the removal.  I gowned up and joined Jacob in the OR room as they got the iV line going, stroking his hair as he drifted off to sleep, telling him to dream of boogie boarding in Hawaii.

While Jacob was in surgery, Ray and I went up to Oncology to meet with the social worker to discuss finances, schooling, hobbies that Jacob has, family dynamics etc.  We were assured that Jacob would get help with some school while in the hospital. They plan on finding him an electronic piano and getting a piano teacher in for him on occasion as well.  We have nothing but praise for everyone at Children’s Hospital.

About an hour and a half later we got the call the Jacob was in recovery. I went in first to see him.  He had this goofy lopsided grin when I bent down to say hi to him and then told me he wanted to sing a song from Dude Perfect for me, which I encouraged! It went something like this “We’ve got some good news, we didn’t kill a cow”. 😂😂  Anyone who knows Jacob well will know he loves Dude Perfect YouTube videos, and anyone who also knows him well would know he would  NEVER willingly offer to sing a song solo.  We had a really good laugh over this.

After a good nap, a physiotherapy lesson, and a frappachino, Jacob got an early discharge and we were able to come home this evening!

Several people have said to me “You’re so strong, how are you able to hold it together” etc.  I am not strong. I am weak. And hurting. We are not sure why this has been placed on our path. We are heartbroken over it and overcome with sadness at the thought of so much chemo and such invasive surgery for our son. We are clinging to God right now by a thread, yet we are clinging.  Though we do not understand, and may never understand, we know we don’t want to walk this road without Him.

Please continue to pray for our family as next week huge transitions start with much time spent at the hospital. Please pray that Jacob’s PET scan will go well on Friday with no signs of spread.  Pray for courage and peace as we move forward and hear the results of these tests on Monday and start the plan for treatment.