After the Diagnosis: Cenla Health - Alexandria, Pineville, Louisiana

After the Diagnosis:
As Normal As Possible
By Julie Sanders

When asked if I would write a few words to express how our son's medical condition, Osteosarcoma of the Spine, affected our family, I didn't know where to start. Should I begin with our first trip to St. Jude's Childrens Research Hospital (SJCRH) in Memphis, the year our family spent living in two different towns, or with his recovery at home? 

I really did not want to draw any more attention to our situation because there are many other families in central Louisiana with children battling serious medical conditions.  I then realized that maybe I could share something that might help those families.

My husband and I wanted to make life as normal as possible for both Evan and also our 11 year old daughter, Nicole.  As hard as it was to be away from our son, one of us had to stay with Nicole. My husband was fortunate to have a very understanding employer which allowed him to work while in Memphis and being a teacher, I was able to spend the summer months and holidays with them.  Although we had many offers for our daughter to stay with friends and family, we took her with us whenever possible to visit Evan.

There are many factors which helped us to cope with our situation. First and foremost was having God in our lives.  Our faith, prayers and the prayers of others truly made a difference in how we handled difficult times. We are blessed to have friends and family that always wanted to help out.  Don't be afraid to call just to offer the smallest of help to a friend or family member in need.  The cards that others sent were great to receive.  It was very comforting to know how much people cared. 

At certain times Evan was limited in what he could physically participate in but his friends made a huge difference in his life by helping him stay connected through invites of all social gatherings, IM'ing, email and writing him via his “Caringbridge" website. If you are dealing with a serious medical condition in your life or your child's life, I urge you to get a Caringbridge web address. Visit the website www.caringbridge.org.  This is a wonderful, free and safe service which allowed Evan to journal about his daily activities, doctor appointments, scans, etc., write to others or just read what others wrote to him.  It was great to see how many “hits" he would get daily.

Evan is now recovering at home and he is working hard to regain his strength and endurance. How has life changed because of this experience?  Evan doesn't complain about what he can't do-he has met other kids who have worse medical conditions. He has had to put off some of his athletic activities for a while but he has learned how to play the guitar quite well.  He also became pretty good at Texas Hold'em and was the hospital champ at playing Connect 4. He will not be able to take Geometry in his freshman year due to the amount of classwork missed, but is determined to take both Geometry and Algebra II his next school year to catch up with his classmates.

As a family, we just enjoy and treasure the time we have together wherever that may be.  We have discovered a family activity called “Geocaching" that is played with a handheld GPS.  Besides a handheld GPS, all you need is a good pair of walking shoes and a sense of adventure (www.geocaching.com).

We even enjoy listening to the sibling bickering, or rather tolerate it longer, because after all... it's normal!

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