David K. - Quilt Finished in 2008

Born: April 12, 1994

Illness: Osteosarcoma

A Thank You From David's Family!

Here is a picture of David with his quilt. Thank you so much for getting it to him. This picture was taken when he was in the PICU on March 29, 2008. Thank you again, it is an absolutely beautiful quilt, and David loves it. He takes it to the hospital every time he goes. I just can't say how much we love it and thank you.

God bless you~~Kristi Koury

David's Story

Written by David's mom Kristi in November 2007

This is David's story. He was complaining of a sore knee for a few weeks. Then the knee started to swell. So we took him to Urgent Care and they told us it was just a sprain. But the swelling got worse, so we took him to the Doctor. The doctor immediately ordered an MRI. The next day he called and ordered an X-ray because he said David has a bone tumor. Well, on October 12, 2007, we were sent to Oakland Children's Hospital, 4 1/2 hours away, for official diagnosis and treatment.

David had to endure another MRI, a bone scan, 2 CT scans, echo-cardiogram, 2 kidney tests, a hearing test, ambulanced to San Francisco to meet the surgeon, biopsy, and the broviac surgery; all in a week. And he was in a lot of pain this whole time! He was officially diagnosed with osteosarcoma on October 18, 2007.

Osteosarcoma is a highly malignant, very rare, very aggressive bone cancer. It has spread to his lungs. We were told he has 6 lung 'mets' (metastasized nodules); 5 in his right lung and 1 in his left lung. That is how aggressive this cancer is. He started chemo on October 20, 2007. He has had 2 rounds of chemo, and needs one more before surgery. His surgery will be Feb. 4, 2008. His surgery is to be a 'limb-salvage' surgery. There was the possibility of him needing an amputation, but he will get to keep his leg, at least for the time being.

There is always the possibility that he could lose his leg in the future, but we will let that take care of itself. We will do the limb-salvage for now; 13-year-olds should have their own legs! We don't know what we are going to do about his lungs, yet. We are going to wait until he finishes chemo and see if the lung mets dissappear. He is such a trooper! He is only 13 and has cancer. We still find it so very surreal; and unreal! But with God we are going to get through this. We can't wait to see what God has in store for David; we know it must be something big!! Please keep reading his journal, I try to update daily as things happen. Thank you.

Update:

David has had the lung surgeries~on 3/28/08 & 4/11/08. He is doing well at this time.

Update:

David is done with surgeries; for now. He had 4 in two months. He will be having 2 more before the end of this year. He will have his last chemo on October 3, 2008. Then he will have scans on October 10, 2008. Then we will go from there, depending on how his scans look. It has been a long, long year, but we have made it through. Now we will attempt to get on with life and dig ourselves out of the hole we dug, financially, fighting this monster. I will continue to post; this journey is far from over. God bless you.