Saturday, May 29, 2010

And now we wait...

I assumed I would eventually join the blogging world, but I didn't know how long I could hold out or what would actually drive me to become a blogger.

I'm officially a blogger.

This blog is to keep dear friends and family up to date with William's recent health situation and document our growth as a family. We also acknowledge we are not in this alone and recognize the villages that are caring for us, supporting us, and loving us. We are so thankful for our villages of doctors, nurses, family, friends, church members, neighbors....

So here's the rundown of what has recently occurred and what we know at this point.

A month or so ago we noticed William's upper abdomen seemed a little bloated or distended. It looked odd since the swelling was just under his rib cage, but around his waist was regular, skinny, Will. I thought it was probably just constipation, so I paid more attention to his bowel habits and tried to remedy any problems. Everything seemed completely normal. About 1-2 weeks ago, when he was getting out of the bath, I looked again and there seemed to be a definite large lump in the upper left quadrant making me more suspicious of something other than constipation. Ryan and I decided we should call the Dr. It was the weekend so I put it off and then started to second guess myself since he had no symptoms: no pain, no fever, no change in habits, etc. Yesterday morning, Friday, I decided to just call the Dr. and schedule an appt. so any anxiety I had could be put to rest.

At the pediatrician's office, Dr. Lloren agreed that something was abnormal and sent William for a broad panel of blood work and x-rays. The pediatrician didn't notice anything remarkable in the x-rays, so we went home to wait for the blood and radiology report. Within 15 min of arriving home, we had a call with the results. Something was not right and they wanted him to come right back for a C/T scan. The list of suspected problems was not good. We turned around and went back.

William was a trooper with the IV and was thrilled when the technician let him see a picture of his x-ray with his bones, lungs, and heart. We returned home to wait for results. 30 minutes later we got the call.

William has a very large mass/tumor in his abdomen that is pushing some of his organs out of the way. We don't know what type of tumor, exactly how big, if it has spread, how fast it is growing, etc. The blood work shows something is not right, but nothing is conclusive to provide definite answers at this point.

We told all the children over dinner that night at The Old Spaghetti Factory. They all took it great. The only tears that flowed were from Clark when we told William he would have a TV in his room with a DVD player and a remote. Clark got very upset because he desperately wants a TV in his room! We hurried and changed the subject.

William was admitted to the hospital in the pediatric oncology unit early Saturday morning. We have met with the oncologist, but we won't know any more until the pediatric surgeon is able to come and perform a biopsy and the pathology is done on the tumor sample.

So far we've been at the hospital and waiting for the surgeon for 11 hours. He's in surgery. He'll see us sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. The nurses don't know when either.

I know we have a long, hard road ahead of us, but I wonder if this is the worst part: not knowing and waiting, waiting, waiting....

So while we wait, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

25 comments:

  1. William! About your age I got my own hospital room with a remote, DVD player, and a remote. It rocked! You're in my prayers tough guy! Love you buddy!

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  2. Julie and Ryan, We want to be part of the village! You and William are in our prayers. Thanks for keeping us up to date! Aunt Linda

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  3. William and the rest of you are in our prayers.

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  4. Oh, Julie!! What can we do for you? What hospital are you at? Is he up for visitors? I'm sure Cole would love to see him if he is.

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  5. Sutter Memorial is our favorite hospital for children. They are wonderful. We have had many procedures and all our non-Kaiser surgeries there. You are in good hands! We will all be praying for you, William, and your family. Thanks for beginning this blog as we are glad to get an update without bugging your family.

    Rich and Khristine Pettingill

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  6. We love William and I am already missing driving him home from school. We can't wait to see him when we get back. We our praying for all of you.

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  7. Whatever you need, let us know. You're in our prayers.

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  8. we LOVE all of you murdocks!! william you are so brave and handsome and TALL!! :) you're all in our prayers. thank you for the updates.
    xoxoxo
    katie, bret and fam

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  9. You are all in our prayers, and we hope William has surgery soon so he can work on getting better. I want to help in any way I can, so I will be checking with you to see what I can do. I won't let you off the hook! Hang in there, William! You're a brave boy, and we sure love you!!

    Love,
    Anne & Family

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  10. Hugs to William and your family. We will keep you in our thoughts and prayers. We hope you get some positive news soon. We love you.

    Heather & Matt & family

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  11. william is SO handsome! thoughts and prayers are with you all. thanks for keeping us updated! loves,

    anna
    xoxo

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  12. We are prayerful as you enter this journey! Lots of positive thoughts coming your way! We'd be happy to pull another all nighter with the boys if you'd like to spend the night at the hospital with William...........

    Love, Larry & Diane

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  13. Hey William,
    This is Connor Ellison. I'm in your ward and our Moms used to play soccer together, oh and I'm one of Olivia's big brothers (she has a crush on Clark, but dont tell her I told you).I have spent ALOT of time in the hospital here is some advice from one kid to another...
    1.The best hospital meal of the day is breakfast, you can pour syrup over everything and that makes it better.
    2. Hospital ice cream is awesome too! Especially the strawberry.
    3. Stay away from the soups...yuck instead ask for juice.
    4. The peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are alright too because they use like skippy or something?
    5. Remember you dont have to be tuff all the time, it's ok to cry and it's ok to ask for your Mom. Even if it's just because your scared or confused.

    My whole family is praying for you. If you need a friend to come down and hang out with, let me know. I have gotten pretty good at knowing my way around hospitals.
    Connor Ellison

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  14. We love you all so much and are keeping you in our thoughts and prayers. We know that the future is uncertain but we'll hope and pray for the best (along with everyone else...all those combined prayers have to count for something!). Wish I was there to bring you dinner, visit William, or help watch the other boys. Sending all our love...

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  15. We adore you and will be praying our hearts out. We're just dying to be on the helping squad in any way, so please let us know what we can do.

    Love,
    Sarah, Markus, and family

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  16. Hello to the Murdocks from St. Louis!!!! We loved your Christmas card, Julie. You are amazing to get it off. You are ALL in our prayers. We love you, and know that with the all your village and God above, you will be given more strength and courage than you thought possible. You are an amazing family! Love to you all. Hugs from St. Louis, Maryan and Joseph Shumway

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  17. Julie! Leave it to you to be organized enough to put a blog together in the craziness of all of this. Thank you! We'll be fasting with you and praying. Go William!

    We'd love to help. I still feel I'm in your dept from all the many rides you gave me home from track practice.

    lindsay nadauld

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  18. Love you all so much, and William and the rest of you will be in my constant prayers.

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  19. Julie, I just found out from the twins about William. I had my grandson at church today and he was in the twins primary class they were super nice to him and he loved being with 6 other boys. What a great class. Please let me know what Regis and I can do. We have been in your shoes so we know what it is like. William you are in our prayers. We love you and we know that you are strong and will work through this.
    Hang in there and know that lots of people care about you. Beth

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  20. Hey Julie, Ryan and William,

    Susie just sent me a link to your blog! We just got your letter this week too! My thoughts and prayers are with you guys! Lots of love,

    the Simonsens,

    Corrine, Eric, Gregory, Bethany, Emily and Timmy

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  21. We have been thinking of you guys nonstop for the past couple days and send our prayers your way. William will be well-supported by his amazing parents and brothers throughout this process.
    We love you, William!
    Uncle Mitch and Aunt Hilary

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  22. Dear Murdock Family,

    We love you and will support you in anything you need as you walk down this road. You are an amazing family and you're constantly in our thoughts and prayers!

    The Zinns

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  23. Ryan and Julie,

    We love your family so much and we would like to help you in any way you can think of. Please consider asking us to watch the boys, bring in some meals, or anything else that would be helpful. Tell William that our whole family will pray for him every day!

    Bob and Tami Larson

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  24. We just heard about William. Please know that your family and William will be in our thoughts and prayers. We pray that questions will be answered and his road to recovery is quick.

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  25. We will keep you in our prayers!

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