Spencer’s Story

Site created on April 11, 2018

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for praying for Super Spencer.   


First, we are touched by the outpouring of love and prayers being sent to Spencer! Please continue to pray for him. We have a great medical staff working on him, but they are waiting to hear back some news this week that will determine if his treatment is going to need to be high-risk or intermediate risk. We really need these results to go our way.

Second, our son, Spencer, has been diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma. The main tumor is in his chest (based on scans it is more than two times the size of his heart). Unfortunately, due to the size and location of the tumor, they were not comfortable removing it. The most recent scan shows that the tumor is touching his aorta and pushing against his spinal column. As of now, the tumor is not damaging his spinal cord. However, it is close, so we want to start treatment ASAP. Ideally, we would wait to know which treatment course would be best, but because of the threat to his spinal cord we are going to begin treatment tomorrow. Spencer continues to face a difficult and painful battle. Despite the challenges, we are holding strong to our faith and feel great about the medical staff treating Spencer.  Please continue to pray for our little Spencer!

Spencer has a long road ahead of him, but we know that he is not on this journey alone. Team Spencer has his back.

#SpencerStrong

Newest Update

Journal entry by Ashleigh Emily

Hello! I just wanted to update Team Spencer! Super Spencer was amazing with his recovery from surgery.  He handled everything so well that he was allowed to go home several days early. Our surgeons were absolutely amazing! They were able to get the mass out of his chest. There is still a small section near the spine. It looks like there will be a second surgery in his future. We knew this would most likely be the case. It was challenging for the surgeon to access the back by going through the ribs during his surgery. The pathology report came back of the removed mass and most of it was mature or dead material... meaning it is less likely to spread! Incredible news!!! The chemo did its job!

This week, Spencer has a big week of tests. Today, he will have the first part of the MIBG test. This will allow us to see what is going on inside his body with his bones. We have not had one of these tests since the week of his diagnosis. We are hoping to see a significantly lower concentration of cancer cells in his body skull, arms, legs, and hips. He will also have a bone marrow test today.  He will be sedated through both of these procedures. Sedation is never easy on parents, but we know it is worth it. On Thursday, Spencer has the second part of the MIBG test which only lasts a couple minutes. He also has a hearing test to make sure his ears are not affected by the treatment. We know Super Spencer is going to do well this week and have awesome results! Please send out a few prayers, positive vibes, thoughts for the best news! Team Spencer always appreciates your love and support!

#SpencerStrong
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