Rayden Lee

Last week, our dear grandson, Rayden Allen Lee (2 years old),  son of Erik and Lindsay, was diagnosed with a tumor attached to the spinal cord in his neck.  


He had cold symptoms for a several weeks with the symptoms getting worse instead of better.  Lindsay brought him to Urgent Care and to his pediatrician.  Rayden was given antibiotics and sent home.  He continued to be miserable, couldn't sleep and pointed to his neck saying, "It hurts, Mommy, kiss it!"  Lindsay and her Mom decided to take him to Urgent Care again on Monday night (Feb. 13th) since he was only getting worse.  They were very fortunate to see a doctor that ordered a CT Scan.  To the doctor's surprise, a large tumor showed up on his spinal core...not what she expected at all!  He was ambulanced down to Children's Hospital immediately.  

On Tuesday, an extensive MRI was performed and the tumor was labeled as a Peripheral Neuro Sheath Tumor.  The tumor is rarely found in children, more common in older adults and described as slow growing.  He may have had it since birth.  The teams at Children's studied the tumor's characteristics and placement and to everyone's relief, it is operable.  And, at this point, they believe it is benign although we will not know until it is biopsied.  Erik and Lindsay were able to get a second opinion and with lots of input and questions, they selected neuro surgeon, Dr. Nagib, to operate.  Erik and Lindsay and the rest of the family are very, very confident in their choice and we know that Rayden is in the best possible hands.

At Children's,  Rayden was put on the right "cocktail" of pain medicine and steroids (to reduce inflammation around the tumor) and was able to go home over the weekend until surgery.  Surgery is scheduled for this Wednesday (February 22nd) at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis and he will do his recovery at Children's Hospital.

We have been educated as to how the surgery will be performed and have been told it will be a very complex procedure.  There are serious risks involved but the hope of Dr. Nagib is that after the procedure, Rayden will continue to live a happy and healthy life.  

Please send positive thoughts and prayers to us on Wednesday and in the weeks to follow as he begins his recovery.  Many of you have already reached out to the family and we are overwhelmed with the support.  Lindsay and Erik are surrounded by love and we will all help them cope through this challenging time.  


Love, Kristin and Randy