The power of prayer!

WARNING:  Some of these images are graphic!

Before you read on, please note the doctors were all but 100% this was not sun related.  We have always insisted on wearing sunblock & covering up.  But, after this experience we have found a new respect & need for covering skin, applying sunscreen & overall protection from harmful prolonged sun exposure.

In September 2020 Brandy noticed a bump on Konnors head that looked like an ant bite blister.  Konnor is our youngest son at 11 years old behind our son Kaden at 14 and daughter Kendall at 17.

It eventually just went away.  

On January 20, 2021 - after coming in from playing basketball with his brother Kaden, Konnor was sitting on Brandys lap and she was rubbing Konnors head & found another spot.  About a week or so went by & Brandy texted me asking if we should get it looked at and I said yes it wouldn’t hurt.

 

 

 

 

February 3 - I took him to Complete Dermatology in Sugar Land.  They ended up doing a biopsy removing the bump and sending off to Pathology which we should have had results in a few days.  With no results in 10 days we continuously called and was told they were getting a second opinion.

February 25 - They eventually called this evening saying it took longer because the Pathologist sent the sample off to UC-SF in California for the 2nd opinion due to the rarity.  The results came back as Nevoid Melanoma. 

One of Konnors teachers contacted Brandy a few days later to let her know a friend of Konnors told her that Konnor told him he thought he had cancer.  Once we heard that our hearts dropped.  That night we discussed with him what was going on & explained to him that we’re going to the best doctors in the world to get him better.  He heard some conversations & eventually put 2 & 2 together.

 

March 3 - We were transferred to Texas Children’s pediatric dermatology, seeing dermatologist Dr. Reagan Hunt on this day.  

 

Monday,
March 8 - Kendall had an appointment with Complete Dermatology for some
spots on her chest & back.  They noticed a freckle on her thigh
that looked suspect so they did a biopsy. 

 

We then went onto Texas Childrens to see Dr. Raz the Pediatric Oncologist that Dr. Hunt referred us to While we were there, one of the Oncology surgeons Dr. Bindi Naik happened to be there and he had her come in to talk.  

Since Nevoid Melanoma is so rare & even more rare in an 11 year old child, they have no surgical guidelines to follow for children so they were using adult guidelines.  Mentioning the kids were on Spring Break, we were hoping to get the procedure done quickly but they were both skeptical they could get it scheduled due to the nuclear imaging.

After the appointment with Dr. Raj we went to Fishing Tackle Unlimited in Katy for some fishing stuff & the hospital called at 4:30 pm saying they could do the surgery Wednesday but he needed a COVID test.  My fishing tackle excursion to FTU and Laguna Rods got cut short.  Needless to say, we made it back to the medical center by 4:55 from Katy to get the test.  It all just fell into place.  

Wednesday March 10 - Konnor was scheduled for Nuclear imaging at 9 am at Texas Children’s with surgery at 1:00 pm on the 5th floor.  The nuclear imaging was where they injected a dye around the lesion to see what lymph nodes that area drained to.  He went under sedation around 11:30 am and we got to see him for about an hour before we went to the 8th floor for surgery & he got to drink some apple juice.

 

 

 

The entire time he was assigned a child life specialist Meagan Schmidt who
did wonders to explain the process to him and make him and us feel at
ease.  She was there every step of the way.  They played I-Spy, looked
on her iPad, he showed her pictures of his 8 point buck he harvested
this past year, pictures of him pitching & playing baseball, Kooper
our puppy and his brother & sister, etc. 

 

 

 

Around 2:40 they took him back for surgery and about 4:30 we were told the surgery was over & the plastic surgeon was covering the excision.  About 4:55 the Oncology surgeon Dr. Naik & plastic surgeon Dr. Lauren Monson came & said everything went good.  They removed an area the size of a baseball.  They also removed lymph nodes on the left of his neck around his collar bone that they found in nuclear imaging where the area drained.  They left the main site open as they sent it off for Pathology to determine if they have enough margins.  They installed a bolster stitched to his scalp to cover the area temporarily while we wait for pathology.  The plastic surgeon said she feels she can close it later on without tissue expanders and just stretching the skin.

 

 

 

We were able to finally leave around 6:45 pm.  As we were waiting on the elevator Konnor got sick, then was sick off and on until about 9 am on Thursday, March 11th.  We picked up some nausea medicine Thursday that TCH called in but luckily didn’t need to use it.  He’s luckily only used ibuprofen without the need of a pain medicine prescribed.

 

 

A virtual follow up was scheduled with the plastic surgeon on March 18th to discuss the options to close it up permanently.  God willing all the Pathology comes back good, we have an appointment with the plastic surgeon to close the excision on March 23.  He has another COVID test on March 20th. We’ll also have a follow up with the Oncology surgeon.

 

His Little League team had practice that following week and here he was out there warming up others and wanting to pitch in batting practice.  The hardest part was to say no you cant go out there we do not want you to get hit.

They recommended him not going to school to prevent his head from getting hit but he was more determined to go watch baseball and get back to school, which he did.  

 

Here is one of his buddies who decided to wear a cap to school to match Konnor.  It is amazing how young minds are so caring.  We were very appreciative how the school allowed him to wear a cap to cover up his bandages.

March 13 - He constantly asked about going to our little league scrimmage Wednesday & a tournament his select team is in this weekend the 13-14.  He’s anxious to get back on the baseball mound. He did not make the scrimmage but was able to watch a game Saturday & the semifinal & championship games his team the RWB Hooks played in on Sunday. 

A father on the team gave him a nickname that has stuck with him for quite a while which is $Bill.  The kids on the Hooks team had stickers with KB on their helmets.

 

 

I joked around about throwing the first pitch out and got myself in a bind because he later asked about it.  Well, needless to say, he got to throw out the first pitch.  The only thing he has ever complained about this entire process, is not being able to pitch whether it is in Little League or our RWB Hooks travel team. 

 

 

Although his team is 11u, we came up just short of winning the 12u championship by 1 run.

Konnor worked quite a bit with Clayton Harp, an El Campo and Sam Houston State graduate and baseball player.  Clayton has played some professional ball and was kind enough to give Konnor one of his bats.

 

Thursday, March 18 - We had a web only follow up with Michelle Roy with plastic surgery to look at the bolster, etc. We did that in the parking lot of Northside elementary in El Campo. She said everything looked good from pictures we sent, etc & they’re still waiting on Pathology results.

 

Tuesday, March 23 - Konnor went in for his 2nd COVID test at Texas Children’s in Katy prior to his second surgery. 

Wednesday March 24 - Michelle Roy with the plastic surgeon spoke with Brandy explaining the pathology sent to Baylor and they found atypia cells .1 cm inside the margins so they are getting with the pathology clinic in California to review & compare the original slides. It may be nothing but they want to compare all slides. They were to work with Baylor & MD Anderson to review the pathology.

Thursday, March 25 - we were supposed to go in for closure, but just a dressing change was scheduled for this day due to the Pathology findings. The surgery at Texas Children’s was scheduled for 1 pm & we were called to pre-op around 10:50 am.   Here he is just before surgery.

 

 

They removed the bolster so he had an open wound bigger than a golf ball we had to dress each day. He could not take a shower but could carefully wash his hair.

 

Monday, April 5 - the Pathology results were uploaded in MyChart.  Based on the reading it seemed positive that everything was removed.

Tuesday, April 6 - we got word that the Pathology came back clear & plastic surgery will be scheduled to close the excision.

Wednesday, April 7 - a COVID test was scheduled in in Katy within MyChart with hopes of closure surgery on Friday, April 9.

 

Konnor has literally had the best attitude throughout this entire process.  Not once did he cry in front of us, and held up much better than we did. Since he was such a trooper, we decided to get him his own puppy.  His Aunt Savannahs mom Sandy breeds dogs and is where we got our 6th family member Kooper.  He is also a Shih-Tzu. Since Konnor has been such a trooper throughout this whole ordeal, meet Lola who we will get to pick up on May 5th.

 

 

 

 

Friday, April 9 - we arrived at Texas Childrens at 7:30 am.  You can see his expression on his eyes that he\"s smiling in this pic.

 

 

 

When asked if they could get him anything, he said "a bed".  Well the nurse there went out of her way to accommodate. 

 

 

 

 

He was called back and around 10:15 they took him back for plastic surgery.  At 12:00 Dr. Monson came out saying it went good. She had to make 2 large incisions, one on each side to get enough pliable skin to close it. All the while lifting up a great deal of his scalp to get enough movement. She removed the outer edges to clean the wound up & sent those off to pathology to ensure everything was clear.

At 12:30 we got to see him in recovery. After waking up some he tried taking his liquid medicine around 2:00 but he vomited it right away. He was given another dose around 4:00 and he threw up again.  He just could not keep it down due to such a bad taste. He woke up whimpering that he hurt really bad then fell back asleep. It was the first time throughout the entire process he showed any indication of pain.

 

Even after going through his 3rd surgery in 4 weeks, he still gave us a thumbs up in recovery.

At 5:15 they reached out to Dr. Monson & she was coming in to prescribe a pill form we can crush to put in ice cream.

At 5:30 pm we were able to get the Norco pill crushed and in ice cream for him to swallow. After a conversation with the pharmacist, they swapped out the liquid pain medicine for pill form.  We told them that we were not leaving the hospital until he could get a pain medicine to control any pain.

After 6 hours in recovery, we were finally able to leave recovery around 6:15 pm and headed home.

 

Here\"s a picture we got from his classmates!

 

Saturday April 10th - Konnor was already doing really good. He had no pain but we stayed ahead of the pain with his crushed pills. Brandy set her alarm every interval and got up several times per night to ensure he got pain meds & was never uncomfortable. She made sure he was comfortable. One time he woke up to take Ibuprofen & he was half asleep. He took all but a bit so Brandy told him he had a little left but was in a daze. He took the medicine cup & turned it upside down on the bottle like it was a cap spilling it on his belly. He got wiped off & went back to sleep.

Sunday April 11th - Konnor felt good enough to go watch our team the RWB Hooks play in West Little York at 10 am. He stayed home from school on Monday but returned on Tuesday.

 

We were scheduled to take the dressing off his head on this day so we were nervous and were not quite sure what to expect. 

Our follow up appointment on April 19 with Dr. Raz the pediatric oncologist.

Our follow-up with the plastic surgeon Dr. Laura Monson is April 20 with hopes that he’ll be released to normal activities.

Thursday April 15 - the pathology report came back for the tissue that the plastic surgeon removed to clean up the wound. From reading the report, there was no evidence of residual melanoma.

 

Saturday, April 17th - We went to the Houston Fishing Show and today was the first time Konnor went out in the public without his bandages on.  He still wore his EC cap, but his hair covered a lot of his scar and his other hair is starting to grow in where they shaved him for surgery.  He picked up a hat from Monsta fishing apparel, along with a ton of other stuff.  He has really been milking this the past few months. A rod builder I’ve chatted with gave Konnor a Palo Fishing cap, which I believe was a kind gesture after seeing Konnors scar after removing his cap.

At the fishing show, Konnor got to meet & hang out with Capt. Caleb McCumber from Capt. Caleb TV and fishing guide along the Texas Coast.  https://www.captcaleb.com  Check out his Youtube Channel.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1jpBQhMOxKnlGVC6lUjIJw  

 

 

Here Konnor is pictured with Caleb McCumber at the Houston Fishing Show.

If you notice, Konnor is wearing a Saint Raphael necklace. Raphael means “God heals”.

Sunday, April 18th - at 10 am mass at St. Philip, Father took time to congratulate Fr. Gary Janak on becoming Bishop in the San Antonio diocese.  He mentioned in 48 hours or more he would be receiving that honor.  In reflecting on that, I remembered Fr. Gary was who baptized Konnor and in 48 hours at 11 am on Tuesday April 20th, Konnor will see the plastic surgeon for his post op surgery followup to see how his incision closure is healing.  It has to be Gods way of saying he’s been completely healed!

Monday, April 19 - we had a virtual followup with the Oncologist Dr. Raz.  He said everything came back normal from pathology & doesn’t feel it is anything that could re-occur.  We will need to followup with him & the dermatologist every 6 months for 5 years. 

Konnor’s cousin Donna Meckel is in the military and stationed at Fort Bliss. Today he received this card signed by some of those stationed with her, gift card & a Fort Bliss shirt.  Just a few days after signing this card, the group was deployed to Saudi Arabia.  God Bless our military & their families and keep them safe!!

Tuesday, April 20 - Konnor had a followup with the plastic surgery Michelle Roy, PAC at Texas Children’s.  She looked at his scar & said everything looks good. We have a virtual followup with them in 4 weeks and that should be our last visit with that group.  She said he could return to normal activities on Friday.  It was only the 2nd time we really saw him upset.  He was upset not to get back to baseball & not be limited in PE.  She did give him permission to play this Thursday in a little league makeup game.  We then went down to Chik-Fil-A in the hospital & who walks in the line behind us?  Dr. Laura Monson who did his excision & wound closure.

Wednesday, April 21 - We no longer have to put the antibiotic cream on his scar.  He is no longer having to wrap it any longer and his hair is really starting to grow in.  We did notice some drainage so Brandy notified Texas Children.

 

 

And here is a Lola update.

April 22 - Konnors first game of 2021.  It was great to see him back on the field again.

Saturday, April 24, 2021 - Although the plastic surgeon gave him permission to play Thursday, he was fully released on Friday.  The RWB Hooks team had a tournament scheduled so he was able to play this weekend.  He started pitching game 2 & went 4 innings.

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May 17 - 

 

His incision is healing nicely and his hair is starting to grow back to hopefully cover his entire scar.

June 23 - Konnor had a followup with his pediatric dermatologist at Texas Children’s for a full body check and everything looked normal.  We go back there & the oncologist in October.  We will see the dermatologist every 3 months for a year.

March 2022 - One year later & about a dozen followups, Konnor is still cancer free.  We thank God for giving us the intuition to get it checked out right away. 

Brandy & I did not discuss what Konnor was going through with many people until his first surgery to avoid any attention.  We greatly appreciated all the prayers we received and know that Gods hand is the reason we were able to find this bump, make the decision to have it checked out and how all the procedures progressed so quickly and allowed the specialists to make the right decisions.  It was torture waiting for all of the pathology reports, but we understand they wanted to make the best educated & informed decisions related to our sons health.  We felt we had the best doctors, surgeons & pathologists on his case to ensure a clean bill of health in the end.  Many thanks goes out to Complete Dermatology, Texas Childrens, University of California, SF for their pathology reports, Baylor & MD Anderson for whatever collaboration they provided with Texas Childrens.

Although every doctor we’ve had on the case said sun exposure was not the cause as he hasn’t had enough exposure to cause it.  They feel it was a mole that just grew out of control. He always wears a cap & sunscreen.  We have always been persistent in lathering our kids up with sunscreen, wearing caps, etc. while out in the sun, and will be even more persistent now.