June 16, 2020 was our son Lucas Barrett's 16th birthday. It was also the day that he received a diagnosis of bone cancer. In the subsequent weeks, Lucas has been put through a series of tests including a bone biopsy that pinpointed the cancer as Osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma is very rare; Scottish Rite only sees about 10 kids a year with this. The tumor in his left femur is large but after a series of additional tests (PET scans, MRI’s, etc.) it appears that there is no cancer in any other bones – thank you God!
Lucas was admitted to Scottish Rite on Monday, June 29th to put in a port and begin chemotherapy treatments. Despite enduring a good bit of nausea, he came through this first round very well and we brought him home on Thursday, July 2nd. The doctors hope to shrink the tumor through the chemo treatments over the next 10 weeks before performing surgery to remove the tumor; we are all hoping and praying that they will be able to perform limb-salvage surgery. Scottish Rite is one of only a handful of hospitals in the country with the ability to perform this type of surgery so that is definitely a blessing! All in all, the chemo treatments are expected to last for a year.
Like all of us, Lucas is shocked at his diagnosis but is as ready as possible to fight this disease! He already has a good track record having conquered anxiety and depression in the past. When his mom Michelle told him she would be his rock, Lucas said, “No Mom, you’re my boulder and Dad is my big teddy bear.” So we are collecting boulders to shore up our family. We will fight this together with everything we have and God will provide. Our God is bigger than cancer; HE is our boulder.
We appreciate all the love, support and prayers coming from literally the entire globe. God is good and He is working through you all. We love you.
