Today’s post is a lot less light hearted than my normal. Yesterday we had a bit of a trying day with the kids, the kind that prompted me to shout out that I was going to have an aneurysm in the middle of downtown Kansas City. Gabbie was whining and carrying on about wanting to buy a rocking chair for her doll. Zachary was pushing into me and telling me to get out of his spot. And Simon is just in a phase where he repeats everything over and over even when I answer him right away. And yet.
A long time acquaintance of mine from various online communities has been dealing with something that makes my humorous issues seem downright embarrassing. She brought her 6 year old son to the ER on Friday because he was having trouble breathing and had abdominal pain. His diagnosis quickly changed from pneumonia to liver problems to Burkitt’s Lymphoma. And when you hear lymphoma, you know it’s bad. From what I’ve read, it is a rare, aggressive cancer. I honestly can’t read more without wanting to cry. According to my friend, her son’s kidneys are failing. They have sedated him and intubated him, and put in chest tubes, a central line, and an A line. He also needs dialysis and steroids and his lungs need help. I don’t know for sure, but I imagine he will need chemotherapy as well.
When I hear things like this I can’t help but ask WHY. This is a six year old child. His parents are good people. And he’s the second young child within a year that I personally know who has had to deal with a cancer diagnosis. Thank God our other sweet friend has finished his treatments and while being closely monitored, seems to be doing well. I just pray that this little boy makes a complete and quick recovery as soon as possible.
If you are the praying type and would like the name of the little boy, please let me know as I’m not sure his parents would want it posted here. And may we soon not have to worry about our loved ones or anyone else getting cancer at all.