First of all, Kendall is OK, I know some of ya'll get a bit nervous when you see this thread come up.
During our family's enduring adventure of dealing with a child that has cancer, we've come across other families that have endured similar journeys. One family in particular has become really close to our family, The Simao's. Their son, Erik(17) was diagnosed with a brain tumor when he was 8 years old, he underwent surgery, radiation and chemo to be declared cancer free two years ago. Since then, he's had a small growth appear on his neck, they classified it as benign and operated on it. Because it was so close to a major artery, they couldn't remove it all, so he started oral chemo last spring. He's being doing good and enjoying his senior year in high school. He started having head aches around Thanksgiving, after a few test, they decided to do an MRI, they found a reoccurance of the original brain tumor at the top of the brain stem. He's in the hospital now, they are going to wait till Monday to operate. He's doing OK, facing this as a person with maturity far beyond his age. His father was laid off from his job only two weeks ago. His mother is having a real hard time with this. My wife and his mother are best friends, its as if its one of my children in the hospital. My girls think of Erik as their big brother. My family was in this same spot the fall of 08, I've been there with a sick child, a worried wife, and no job. Its not a good place to be in, especially during the holidays, i swear it seems like this happens to some one I know every fall. I've learned that in the toughest times, people show their true worth and come together to support and help each other. Keep Erik, Barbara & Ed in your prayers. Its not an easy or short path, they've been there before, but it doesn't make it any easier. Please visit this page
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003208457730
and Keep them in your prayers.
Thanks