Thursday, April 23, 2009

Meet the S Family

Jeff, Katie, big sister Paige and sweet Jonathan...



On April 3, 2008 this wonderful family's life changed forever. Jonathan was diagnosed with a brain tumor which they later found to be a rare and aggressive brain tumor called an atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor, or AT/RT. This type of cancer occurs almost entirely in children and has had results in somewhere between 0 and 10% of children surviving.
You can read more about Jonathan's story here: Jonathan's Army of Angles

Below is an excerpt from their CarePage, written by Jonathan's father, Jeff.
"In light of the very obvious and rapid worsening of Jonathan's condition, Katie and I have decided to stop treatment and enjoy what quality time we have left with him. We don't know if we have a week, a month, or longer, but we are certain that the best we can hope for with additional chemo is a zero sum result...we make him sick for two weeks to gain two weeks of time with him. We simply aren't prepared to let him suffer any longer.

We have known for the last twelve months that this day would come, but we resolved to push this day back as far as we could, and give him as much quality time as possible. We have always maintained hope and optimism that our son may be one of the lucky few, but we also were never arrogant enough to just assume that he would be. Katie and I believe that we have done everything possible to give him extra time to be happy, and it is now time to stop forcing him to fight. We are at peace with our decision, though it is certainly one of the most difficult we've had to make during this battle. "


We ask that you please keep Jonathan and his entire family in your thoughts and prayers as they head down the next path in this difficult journey.

2 comments:

stephanie T said...

oh my gosh, that is SO sad :(

Sabrina Bowen said...

Oh my...I couldn't stop crying when I read this. I had to stop and immediately say a prayer for that sweet boy and his family.