Discovering Tobin’s cancer
Posted by Tom on December 20th, 2007
My three-year old son has cancer.
Tobin had been sick for a few weeks, with a cough that wouldn’t go away. Multiple trips to the doctor’s office offered no respite. Antibiotics didn’t work. An inhaler didn’t improve his breathing. He visited the doctor’s office again on Monday, December 10th, and was seen by a “substitute” physician (the doctor was out for some reason).
A quick test showed his blood-oxygen level was insufficient (low 80s, if I recall correctly), and we were advised to take him over to the emergency room at UVRMC. There, the triage nurse confirmed the low oxygen saturation, and fast-tracked him in to the ER, where he was immediately put on oxygen.
They did a chest X-ray (because he was having trouble breathing, they moved him to the front of the line). The doctor concluded he has a “raging” case of pneumonia, and his labored breathing was caused by a significant amount of fluid in his right lung, rendering it almost useless. Draining it would require surgery to insert a chest tube. They sent us by ambulance up to Primary Children’s Medical Center (PCMC).
Shortly after arriving at PCMC, they gave him a CT scan. During that scan, it was clear something was abnormal, because there were six people crowded in a small room studying the monitor intently.
Only a few minutes later the doctor came in and told me Tobin has cancer, most likely neuroblastoma (the neuroblastoma diagnosis was later confirmed as stage 4). My wife arrived as we were discussing it (she had stopped to make arrangements for our other children), and we started the conversation over.
Tobin was admitted to the Pediatric ICU (PICU), where he stayed overnight before being transferred to the cancer ward the following day.
(I realize this is a rather depressing place to end, but I’m tired. I’ll write more in the coming days.)
Tom:
We are praying for Tobin and your family.
Craig
Left by Rep Craig Frank on December 20th, 2007