Julie Lape

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Julie just celebrated her 38th birthday on April 23rd. She and Eric have two children, Trevor (4 years old) and Tessa (2 years old). Last week Julie was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, a rare cancer. Please pray for her as we go through the next many months of treatment and healing.

Julie has had pain on the side of her back for about a year and she has been to several doctors over the past many months without relief. First she went to her family doctor and she tried physical therapy. No relief. So she asked to go to an orthopedic doctor where she got a shot of cortisone and still no relief. So she pushed him to have an MRI and nothing was noted. But she persisted and kept asking where could this pain come from?  She pushed and pushed and finally there was something that showed on the MRI where she had the pain. It was thought to be a lipoma or fibroma, both benign tumors. So she was referred to a surgeon for further analysis. An ultrasound was ordered and the report came back with no red flags about the mass. It was recommended that nothing had to be done, but Julie insisted on a biopsy to ease her mind. And thank God she did!!! BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE!!!! You know your own body best. Push for those tests when you know you need them. Biopsy results were due within 48 hours, but they took a whole week. When the results weren't available, all of us started worrying. And yes, she then got the call from her surgeon that the tumor was malignant and we all learned a new term... synovial sarcoma. 

Julie has a long road ahead of her as we walk this journey to good health together. She has chosen a wonderful team at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for her treatment, which will include a combination of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. She will begin next week with three 21 day cycles of chemotherapy administered as an inpatient, which will require 4 nights in the hospital each 21 days. At the end of these cycles, it will be determined if more chemotherapy is required, if radiation is required, and finally, she will have surgery to remove the tumor.

So for now, we ask for you to please keep Julie, Eric, Trevor and Tessa in your prayers. We are all in shock but Julie is a fighter and as we walk down this very unfamiliar road, she will fight with every ounce she has and we will all fight in lockstep with her. Until we learn more, sending love and God's blessings to all of you.


#ivegotthis #prayers #julesstrong #warriorjules #warriortommyjane