I have had requests from several people to post the history of Luc's treatment, so here goes. In the spring of 2005 Luc came home from school very discouraged because he could only do 2 push-ups at school. (They were doing the fitness tests in P.E.) He is a very active kid, so I was a bit concerned. I had him raise his arms. He could only raise his left arm about shoulder height. I had him do a few other things and noticed weakness and limited mobility. Furthermore, we noticed asymmetry in his shoulders; the left one being somewhat higher and more "pulled in" toward the body than the other one. I called his pediatrician and he referred us to an orthopedic doctor in Bountiful. After the exam with the Orthopedist he said he believed it to be a rare muscular-skeletal syndrome and referred us to a doctor at Primary's. It was about 2 months before we were able to get in to see the doctor at Primary's. When we did she assured us that is was not this syndrome (Sprangles) because we would have seen it from birth. She did a few other tests and some x-rays and still could not determine what the problem was. She scheduled an MRI for 3 weeks from then. By the time we arrived home that day her office had called to tell us that she wanted Luc to have a CT scan early the next week. At the CT appointment they found a large mass in the left brachial plexus (shoulder/neck region) and did the MRI the same night. We found out the next day when we met with the oncologoy doctors that it was most likely a tumor known as a desmoid (aggressive fibromatosis). This tumor is a locally aggressive and destructive tumor. They don't know the cause or have a cure. Luc went through a year of weekly chemotherapy treatments. The chemotherapy treatments stabalized his tumor for about a year. In September at his last MRI the doctors found that the lower lobe of his tumor had grown 50%. That is the reason for his surgery. His surgeon will remove as much of the tumor as possible, as much as 90%. Luc will be in the hospital about a week if all goes well. We are very confident in his surgeon, Dr. Lor Randall. He is the head of sarcoma services at Huntsman's. He is one of the best orthopedic surgeons in the country. We know he will receive excellent care at Primary's. We know this because of the treatment he has received there thus far. All the doctors, nurses and staff in the oncology clinic have been incredible. Even when we go back for him to have his port accessed for MRIs they remember exactly what he likes and dislikes. It is an incredible hospital because of all the compassionate people that work there. We appreciate all of your concern, prayers, fasting, and faith. It gives us strength.
Marley
