[horrez]

A guy that I grew up with in church has a son (Chase) with cancer. They have a site that they post updates on. This first post is from April of last year (this will give you some background):

Our son was the definition of a happy 8 month old baby. He was growing, crawling and pulling up on things. About two weeks ago, He was diagnosed with a ear infection at the pediatrician's office. We treated with Amoxcillin for a week. At the end of the week we noticed he quit crawling or pulling up at all. Friday the 16th of April Christine noticed that he had pain in his right hip. Saturday the 17th Christine took Chase to the pediatrician, after exam the doctor sent them to MUSC ER for further investigaion. After 8hrs in the ER Chase was admitted to MUSC. By Sunday morning the desicion was made to operate on his hip to rule out and prevent septic arthritis in his hip. He went thru surgery fine. However the findings were still not conclusive that this was the cause of the fever and pain. Sunday midday a resident was in checking on Chase and noticed a lump in his abdomen. An ultra sound was ordered and done Sunday afternoon where they found a tumor in his abdomen. A CT was ordered and preformed at 2:30am Monday am. Midday monday the doctors came in and informed us our baby boy had a tumor in his abdomen, spots on his liver, kidney,spine and many other places. All believed to be cancerous. Our world was ROCKED! Here is where the fight begins............

The type of cancer he has is Neuroblastma (sp?). Since that first post, Chase has had multiple surgeries, 11 rounds of chemo, and (the best news) one birthday. His latest surgery was to remove the tumor in his abdomen. Word is it was a success. He's still got a long ways to go, but his scans keep looking better and better (so I guess the chemo is working). Chuck (my friend) and his wife also have a 3 year old daughter.

I tell you all of this to ask you to pray for Chase and his whole family.

Thanks.

[jcmanson]

Wow, that’s got to be terribly difficult for them. Praying for them now.

[NG33]

Definitely will keep Chase in my prayers

[Sly Fox]

Saying prayer right now in Texas for him and his family.

[horrez]

Thanks for the prayers, I know they're helping. Chase was discharged from the hospital yesterday and it sounds like things are good so far. Keep the prayers coming.

[horrez]

Hope you guys don't mind if I keep updating you about Chase in this thread. The latest news is:
His parents are going to meet with the neurosurgeon to discuss the possibility of surgery to remove the tumor between Chase's skull and brain. They will be weighing the risk/rewards of surgery, Chemo and/or radiation to remove this tumor. Please say a prayer for them as they face this big decision.

[Sly Fox]

Thanks for keeping us up on his progress.

[horrez]

Some updates about Chase (this info is from his dad last night)...

As it stands now Chase will report to the hospital Wednesday morning for surgery to remove the tumor between his skull and brain (the actual surgery is scheduled for 10:50am). At clinic on Monday Chase reached another major milestone. There are markers in his urine that help determine the presence of Neuroblastoma cancer. For the first time EVER Chase was finally in the "NORMAL" range. Chase is by no means out of the woods, but one more hurdle has been cleared on the road to "Beating It". After surgery he is scheduled to spend the night in the PICU and then hopefully a few days with his angels in 7B. After dinner tonight unprovoked Olivia announced "I gonna give Chase lots of hugs cause I love him and gonna miss him while he is at the hospital." Please say a prayer for a loving sister, skillful surgeons and God's speed and protection for our miracle baby! Thank You, all of your thoughts, cards, phone calls, and prayers are felt and appreciated!

Please keep Chase and his family in your prayers. Thanks.

[4everfsu]

Praying for all

[Sly Fox]

Praying once again

[horrez]

His dad posted this update late last night...

Chase is safe and resting in the PICU. It was a extremely long day. Of course things were running late at the hospital. The anesthesiologist did not take Chase back until 12:30pm. It was almost 2pm before the actual surgery started and it took the full 4 hours. By the time he was settled in the PICU so we could see him it was 8pm. When we saw him he grinned a big grin. Poor guy has 5 tubes and at least 10 wires coming out of him and has to feel bad but found the courage to grin for his mom and dad. What a fighter! It was a brief visit (20MIN) and then downstairs for a "quick" hour long MRI. Then back up too the PICU and hopefully to finally rest after a long day. Chase handled everything in stride, the surgery went off without complications. The surgeon was able to cut out all of the tumor on the bottom side and most of it on the top side. The top side was near a large vein and had a lot of scar tissue from the chemo. So he was not able to remove all of it b/c of this large vein. They will be able to tell more after the pathology of the tumor is done. God willing all that is left in Chase's skull is DEAD scar tissue. We have been unbelievable blessed so far on this journey so for now we will celebrate that Chase is safe and resting. Hopefully in a few weeks we can all celebrate that there is no "live" growth in Chase's skull. Please keep Chase in your prayers that recovery is speedy and painless as possible. Thank you for the UNBELIEVABLE support of our Miracle Baby.

Thanks for all of the prayers.

[horrez]

Another update from his dad Saturday night...

Chase has enjoyed a nice weekend at home. He has just about recooperated from surgery. He still has trouble sleeping thru the night and his stamina is still not 100%. Other than that he is a 20 month old baby boy trying to grow up and fight cancer. We have been praying for strength and we got it. He goes hard following his sister everywhere, including the top of every slide and swing. Chase just had his skull opened up and still has stitches in his head. So Christine and I have been doing a lot running, swinging and sliding, keeping up with both of them to ensure he does not bump his head. This is not a complaint, nothing makes us prouder to see his smile as he comes down the slide. We have enjoyed the down time, but it is back to business next week. Monday, Chase goes to clinic for a check-up, then he will have scans on Thursday and Friday. Please pray for our Miracle Baby as he starts a busy week of appointments and scans.

Thank you again for all of your prayers...

[horrez]

Great news! This is an update from his dad last night:

365 days ago Chase was diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma Cancer. 11 rounds of Chemo, 5 Major Surgeries, 800+ syringes of flush and heprin, a bout with C-Diff, 6 ER Visits, over 100 days in the hospital, over 6500 messages of encouragement, countless meals, 100's of cards and emails, and millions of prayers and we are elated to say Chase is TREATMENT FREE!

What does this mean? Chase has crossed a huge milestone! Chase will have his urine and blood tested in May and will have a full round of scans and bone aspiration in June, If his scans are still clean he will have surgery to remove his Broviac (tube in chest) at the end of June!

Your prayers and support have carried us to a place that we were not sure we would ever see this time last year. Christine and I will meet with the oncologist later this week to get the full report of scans and answer some questions. Chase will go to the neurosurgeon tomorrow (Tuesday) for a post-op appointment.

The words Thank you are not enough for what all of your prayers and support have meant to our family. But let today's news be proof that they do work and we feel each and every one of them. We will post the details after we meet with the oncologist and neurosurgeon. Thank you for all of your prayers and support!

Thank you for your prayers. Please send up a prayer of thanks for this good news.

[Sly Fox]

Fantastic news! God is good!

[4everfsu]

Horrez, how about asking the parents of Chase if they will post a picture of the little guy here.
Thanks

[horrez]

This is a pic of him at his uncle's wedding this past weekend. It's probably one of my favorites.

It's hard for me to see this pic and realize that he's been through more hard times in less than two years of life than I've had to face in over 31 years. I can't thank God enough for giving Chase and his parents the strength to fight this cancer.

[PAmedic]

great pic- thanks for posting it; thats a great looking kid.

love the square toed shoe- nice touch

[horrez]

For any of you scoring at home, Chase recently had blood work and scans and everything came back clean (and they removed the tube from his chest yesterday).

God is good!

[Sly Fox]

All the time! Praise God!

[Sly Fox]

All the time! Praise God!