Evans Story

Evan was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma...here is the online definition... "a malignant (cancerous) tumor that develops from nerve tissue. It occurs in infants and children and is the second most common solid malignancy of childhood that usually undergoes rapid progression with a poor prognosis upon metastasis"~google health

We found his tumor accidentally. Evan has always been a normal baby with his own little milestones. Over the last few weeks we noticed that he was a little more colicy than normal. At first we thought it was a change in formula, then we thought it was too much air in the tummy. Since Evan was a premie baby (Sept. 3rd, 2010, 5 weeks early) we have been a little more careful at calling the doctor sooner than later. Spending 12 days in the NICU at children's hospital will do that to you.
We started using some well known home remedies, anti gas drops and gripe water, to try and soothe his stomach. After another week of sensitive stomach, we started to notice how he would throw up more and more.
When I ended up in the hospital for low hemogloban and needing a transfusion, Mat spent the night with the baby getting up every hour because he was fussy. A strainning, grunty kind of fussy. When we talked the next morning we decided to have Mat take the baby to see the family doctor one more time. 
Well, Evan performed on que for them, the nurse took his vitals and naturally he was screaming because that is always the funnest thing to do. Mat gave him a couple sips of formula to calm him down. As soon as the doctor picked him up, he threw up all over her. 
Long story short she rushed them off to Children's hospital in St. Paul and they performed an ultra sound of his abdomin. Mat tells me that the technician was marking the various organs, they made out the kidneys, the gall bladder, the stomach, but there was a unfamiliar mass between all of them. We later found out that it was 3 inches wide in all directions. The doctors in St. Paul confirmed it was a tumor and transported us over to Minneapolis where there is a better encology department with better equipment.
The doctors at minneapolis childrens diagnosed the tumor as a Neuroblastoma, they have spent the week running various tests to determine what type of neuroblastoma he has, apparently there is a whole rainbow of types. The tests included an operation and bone marrow test on Monday, a radioactive dye test on Wednesday and a bone scan on Friday. Each of these events requiring Evan to be sedated, so rather than sedating and reawakening him, the doctors and nurses have been keeping him in a drug induced coma for a week now. We have not been able to hold our little baby all this time because that would throw off his stats. He knows we are around and hears us enter the room. We can see his heart rate jump when we caress his little hands or kiss his cheek. It breaks my heart every time we have to leave him.