Jared’s Weight Loss To Brain Tumor

Jared’s Journey... Back in January, I took Jared to the ER because he thought he had the stomach flu. The doctor that helped us referred us to a gastroenterologist. At the appointment with Dr. Acker, Jared was 88 pounds with clothes on. Dr. Acker did blood and stool work, a colonoscopy, a CT scan of the abdomen, and an EDG. With all that they found nothing. He was also able to get Jared into see the primary doctor before our scheduled appointment which was 3 months from when I had made it. The primary did more blood work and noticed low testosterone, so he ordered an MRI of the pituitary gland. Between insurance and the doctors office, it was cancelled. In the meantime, we took Jared to see an endocrinologist. Her office set up a more detailed MRI and she did more blood work. When the results came in, it showed that Jared has a tumor on his pituitary gland. From the first visit with the endocrinologist to the next one 4 weeks later, Jared had lost 4 more pounds. He was now under 80 pounds. But this didn’t seem to be an issue for the doctor, Joe and I on the other hand saw it as a huge problem. And we sought out another opinion. We moved Jared’s care to MUSC in Charleston. The first doctor we saw addressed the tumor and without us saying anything she also addressed the weight loss. We went back to meet the Neurosurgeon that would do the surgery and got things moving. On Friday, May 4th, Jared went in for surgery to have the tumor removed. The tumor wasn’t exactly what the Doctor was anticipating and the surgery was more invasive. Before the surgery we had been told that we would be home by Monday or Tuesday, now it is May 14th and we have been told maybe by the end of the week, but that is uncertain. Since the surgery, new issues have come up so more tests have been run etc. Meanwhile, Jared’s younger brother graduates on the 19th and despite all our prayers, it is doubtful Jared will be there! The point of me sharing all this it twofold. Primarily we want to bring all of you up to speed regarding what is going on. Second, many of you have asked if you can help in any way. It was suggested we set up a Go Fund Me account. As you can imagine the cost of staying in a hotel and having meals away from home is adding up. We planned on four or five days. We now know it will be nearly twenty before we can be home. With that said, if you are able to help, thank you. If you aren’t, please continue to pray.