Taylor Spike

For those of you who don't know Taylors health history I will give you a brief summary.  At age 3 he was diagnosed with Type I diabetes.  Then at age 9 he was diagnosed with a very rare autoimmune disorder called Myasthenia Gravis.  He took 14 pills/day for 9 months and then had a a very dangerous surgery removing his Thymus gland.  He never let these diseases beat him and continued playing all his sports.  We had to wait 3 years symptom free before they could say he was cured.  God answered!  


Now here we on another journey......  It started over Christmas break when Taylor developed a bad cough.  After two visits too urgent care he was treated what they thought was Bronchitis.  When Taylor got back to Tampa in early January, he noticed his breathing became limited, the cough still persisted and he was having some pain in his chest.  His primary care here in Tampa ordered a chest X-ray which they thought showed fluid in the left lung.  He was directed to go to the ER, and that's where after several X-rays and Ct scans they found the tumor.



T was first admitted to St. Joseph's hospital where they did a lot of testing.  His blood work showed his tumor to be Mediastinal Germ Cell cancer.  The tumor is 25cm which has obstructed his entire left lung and has pushed his heart towards his right lung.  After a lot of phone calls and referrals from family, we were able to get him transferred to Moffitt Cancer Center under the treatment of Doctor Mayer Fishman who is the top cancer doctor in the country for this very, very rare type of cancer!   PMGC is seen in only about 3% of patients.  The survival rate is 60-70%.


January 21, 2018 was our first day at Moffitt.  We met the team of doctors and was told although the tumor mass in size, the hope is it will shrink down to almost nothing.  If this happens, another biopsy is done to see if the chemo killed the cancer or if it still lives.  Either way, surgery will be performed to remove it which we were told is a serious surgery due to the attachment to the heart and other organs.  T remains positive and upbeat.  He has been in a lot of pain because the tumor is pushing causing severe back pain.  The pain  meds help a little.


January 22, 2018.  Taylor shaved his head today.  He remains so upbeat and positive!  He never seizes to amaze me!  His girlfriend has been here by his side the entire time with me, thank god!  He gets his picc line in today and chemo starts.  Praying for a good night!


January 23rd.  Taylor had an AWESOME night!  No pain and no nausea!  Everyone's prayers seem to be working.  He and I took a long walk outside after he cleaned his room. For those of you who don't know him well, he's a little OCD.  Lol.  I sat here smiling as he "refolded" the towels they brought into him.  So darn cute!!   His doctor just came in to see him.  Got some bad news.  His lung has been so compromised (smooshed) by the tumor that only about 20% will recover.  His right lung 60% capacity.  Not sure what this means in terms of him working out and playing sports which is his life! His words to me were "so what if that means I live".  Such an incredible attitude!  His beautiful smile and upbeat, encouraging attitude keep me from falling apart!  The love, prayers and generosity from family, friends and doctors has been so incredibly heartfelt!  I will continue to blog daily and keep everyone updated.  Please keep praying!!!