For all you non-Spanish speakers out there, I've been blogging in Spanish about my daughter, Dariana. Almost two months ago, we saw a lump on Dariana's ribcage which we initially thought was a Lypoma. We took her to her Pediatrician and after a few very stressful days we were performing a MRI on her frail little body.
As I was watching the images on the computer screen come up, my heart just sank... I could see a mass... a big one.
Our Cheif Radiologist at CIRT, being my boss and all, quickly interpreted the images and suggested an Angiosarcoma R/O. When I saw the word SARCOMA in the result, I panicked. My little angel might have Cancer? Is this a bad dream? Some kind of evil subplot that my own mind has orchestrated into a daymare?
I quickly ran back to the Pediatrician. When he saw the report, his eyes opened wide. "I could have sworn that sucker was benign" he muttered. I heard it. "You need to get to San Jorge Children's Hospital in San Juan" he said. I felt numb. Was he really talking to me? Is this real? After handing me some orders for the hospital, I left his office thinking about how I was going to break it to my wife. Damn! Why her? Why now? She's only seven!
Before a month had passed, Dariana had a large tumor removed from her right ribcage (along with a few of her ribs). But, until we got the pathology report, we still had hope that it would be benign. But when the Oncologist called us to her office and told us to leave Dariana in another room, we knew something was wrong. She broke the news to us gently; Dariana has a bad tumor. An Ewing's Sarcoma/PNET to be precise.
Dariana is now undergoing Chemotharapy in San Jorge Children's Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico and will undergo concomitant Radiation Therapy starting on week 13 of her Protocol. She is a strong girl and I know in my heart that she will pull through this. After all, she is my daughter.
