Joy in the Middle of Shock (Update #2: Emily Whiting)

6/12/2017 David Whiting Cancer 18 Comments

Here is the latest update. If you missed the first one, you can find it HERE.

We left our home at 6:30AM and got home at 7:30PM. We had more meetings and tests than I can count. Here is the bottom line:

  • All of this started about nine days ago with an X-ray because of pain in Emily’s left knee. It resulted in an MRI and a scary phone call on Friday.
  • After an entire day at the hospital, we are told that it is almost certain that Emily has a cancerous tumor. They will do a biopsy on Friday, but each person who saw the results said it is presenting exactly as Osteosarcoma would. The biopsy will tell us, but it is almost certain that Emily has bone cancer.
  • Good news: there are two major concerns they have about it spreading. First, they did a full-body bone scan and they found no clear signs of tumors in any other bone. That is great news.
  • Tomorrow night at 8:10PM – there will be a chest CT scan where they will look for issues in her lungs (the most common place it would likely have spread). If that test comes out negative, then it is localized and we can focus on that.
  • It looks like she will be facing 9 months of chemotherapy that is quite overbearing. It will require two weeks in the hospital with every five to six-week cycle and that will go on for 9 months.
  • Surgery will be required and it sounds like a pretty aggressive surgery. But I will share more about that once we know more.

Today, we cried and laughed a lot. The picture above was taken while we were meeting with the chemotherapy doctor and her PA, who were wonderfully kind, and answered more questions than is probably reasonable. But I caught this “off-the-cuff” moment when Emily started laughing hard at something that happened.

I think her joy and laughter is more infectious and powerful than cancer.

And although my ultimate hope is not in doctors or medicine, I am SO glad that God uses them to do His will.

More tests tomorrow. I will update sometime tomorrow.

 

 

 

18 comments

  1. oh my heart as I read this news. Life is hard. The road is bumpy. BUT our God is faithful and promises to walk WITH us through these challenging days. Mark Schultz wrote a song…. He’s My Son. Many prayers.

  4. We are praying continually for you all and so thankful for your example of hope in God in all of this. Thanks for sharing this journey with us. May God be magnified through this. Much love from Rochester and Northridge!!!

  5. Beautiful girl, so sorry for your pain and heartache through the unknowns ahead. You are loved. Thought about. So beautiful. Praying for you through each test and treatment, that you will feel God’s care filled presence. Praying for comfort for you and your family as you take this journey. You are not alone.

  8. Love the picture, such a sweet, beautiful girl who is facing such a hard time in her life. Praying for the peace of God, His direction every step of the way, guidance of her medical teams, surgery, chemo etc etc… We are praying for you guys!

  9. You all are in our prayers! We are lifting every single one of you up and adding you to our prayer chain! God has the details!

  16. David, Sue and girls,
    You are all so precious to so many of us back here in NY. We all wish we were there physically for you all. Please please let us know if you need anything!!!!! We would all love to pray and help provide for you in this challenging time. We love you all and would love to be kept informed so we pray specifically for all of you. ❤️ Chad, Kelli, Hannah and Madison

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