My So-Called Homeschool

A family at our church is begging for prayers today. They called the church this morning to ask everyone to send urgent prayers before the Father for little Jake, their two-year-old son. He’s been having some unexplained symptoms lately and has been undergoing testing for about 3 weeks now. On top of that, his mom just had a baby about 3 weeks ago as well!

His MRI last night revealed a tumor on his spine about the size of a lemon. The doctors cautioned his parents that these tumors are often cancerous. The neurosurgeon is going in today to open up Jake’s spinal column and to remove the part of the tumor that is impacting his spinal cord. Future treatments will be discussed later, today’s treatment is simply to protect the spinal cord from damage by the tumor.

The family is asking all of us to take time today to pray to God for a miracle that will only be explained as an intervention by God. Please pray that there is no cancer and that Jake will not be in pain.

The doctors are running more tests right now but they are planning to do the surgery early this afternoon. The head of the neurosurgery unit at Children’s Hospital is taking on this case himself.

UPDATE 10/20/06 (from our church Flashnet announcements):

Jake came through his first surgery yesterday in good shape. The neurosurgeon was able to open the bottom of his spine and drain the tumor of its contents around the spinal cord in order to remove the pressure. The next phase is to analyze the tumor to determine its nature and devise a plan of action. They should be able to determine this by the first of next week. The doctor said that this was very common and that chemotherapy often simply dissolved this kind of tumor. So, we all joined in a prayer of thanksgiving and hope that God will bring about a total recovery. Nonetheless, much more remains in this battle and your prayers are coveted by the family. Please keep Jake in your prayers.