JUDAH WINS

Don't give up, don't give in! If you don't quit, you win!

One More Round of Surgery

Join us in standing in faith as Judah prepares for his follow-up procedure. Every prayer counts!

Update from Deborah & Eric

Good morning, praying friends and family!

First, we want to thank you for the loving care you show continually for Judah and our family by keeping our journey close to your hearts and priority in your prayer closets!

Many of you have been asking for a report after the scans in December. Overall, the news is pretty good! Here are the details:

Scan Results

Immediately after the scans, we flew to PA for Christmas break and Judah had asked us not to talk to him about the results if we heard from the doctor. He just didn’t want to think about it while enjoying the time with family and friends.

Indeed, two days into our trip, the medical team called with the results of the scans.

Next Steps

Overall, the treatment regimen has worked very, very well. They were able to find only one small speck of residual disease in the “thyroid bed” near the front of his neck and another small speck in the lymph node area on the left side of his neck where they had previously removed 30 lymph nodes. This didn’t surprise them at all, given how extensive the disease had become when Judah was first diagnosed in the fall of 2014.

Surgical Plan

A couple weeks ago, the thyroid tumor board met to discuss Judah’s case and determined the next move. Last week, Eric and I drove a couple hours to the hospital (Judah didn’t want to miss school so he stayed here) to meet with the two surgeons that operated on Judah the first time. The plan is to do a follow-up surgery on March 2nd to take out these last remaining bits of diseased tissue.

Encouragement

We are feeling very grateful that the treatment regimen has gone so well, though we’re certainly not loving the thought of another surgery!

As with any surgery, there are risks to be in defended against in prayer.

Prayer Targets

The diseased speck in the thyroid bed is right near the vocal chord on Judah’s left side so that will require extra care. Also, going back into the thyroid bed again exposes Judah’s 3 remaining parathyroid glands to some risk (1 was already removed with the thyroid during the last surgery — thankfully they are redundant glands). So, those are our prayer targets this time around!