This is the latest about Gabriel from my daughter. While lengthy it does explain it much better than I could..................
"Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)
Sometimes I don't understand why things happen; sometimes it seems so cruel and unfair how good people suffer. I do not know Gods plan for Gabriel or why this is happening to him, but I will believe that it is in his control. I will believe everyday that a miracle can happen for my little boy.
We met with Gabriel's Geneticist and team of Surgeons this morning to go over his MRI results. The results were what we've been dreading. His tumors have significantly grown in size since his last MRI, so much that there is no more empty space in his abdomen for them to go. If they continue at this rate they will begin smothering and invading his organs and spine.
Genetics is worried that if they continue to grow as they have been that soon Gabriel won't be able to eat on his own anymore, even with the help of his G-tube, and that he will need to be fed intravenously through a central line. They are also worried that his organs will not be able to function properly as they're being squeezed and would start to shut down.
The medicine doesn't seem to be working very well on shrinking the tumors, though we are going to increase his dosage and see.
As of right now, Genetics says the only viable option for Gabriel is to have surgery on the tumors to try and debulk some of the masses and give him more room to try and allow the medicine to work. Without surgery they are worried he won't be able to grow anymore without it causing serious, and likely fatal damage.
The surgeons say there is no way they can preform this surgery on Gabriel. It is incredibly risky. He would need a complete open abdominal surgery and they would basically be going in blind. There is no way to get a clear image of the tumors to try and map out a plan. His whole stomach is covered with these tumors, they are invading all of the tissues and blood vessels to the surrounding organs so trying to go in and cut them out could easily result in the damage to his other healthy organs. The risk of bleeding out is extremely high as everything is entertwined and has no clear borders.
The Surgeon told us that if they took Gabriel in for surgery, they are not sure if he would make it back out.
He is going to send all of Gabriel's MRI results to the surgery team at Boston Children's Hospital and see what they would recommend and if they would be willing to do surgery there.
None of the Surgeons here have seen a case like Gabriel's before, they said you could go your whole career without seeing something like this. So no one really knows what to expect when they open him up.
The MRI showed a few questionable spots on the tumor in Gabriel's back that along with the extremely rapid growth, Genetics is wanting to biopsy the lesion to check for any mutations. They think it is possible the tumors may have started to mutate and become malignant. We will get the biopsy done next week and hopefully know the results from that soon.
If they turn out to be malignant, we could hopefully do radiation to shrink them and avoid surgery.
Right now we are just waiting to have the biopsy done and tested and waiting to hear back from Boston. They are they number one in the country and have hopefully seen a case like Gabriel's before and will know what to do.
Please everyone say a prayer or send up good thoughts for Gabriel. He is the toughest, sweetest baby boy. I know he can beat anything.
While our odds are stacked against us, and everything seems to be crashing down around us we will never give up hope that our angel will be healed and will live a full and happy life. I refuse to believe that Gabriel has come this far for it to end like this.
HE will beat this!
Gabriel with Mom and Dad
My youngest daughter included him in her senior picture.
Gabriel learning to walk with casts on both feet.