Teddy

Teddy completed six months of grueling physical therapy and nineteen rounds of chemo

My wife and I strolled down the long red carpet. The interior of the Denver warehouse had been magically transformed into an upscale art auction. We could hear a stringed ensemble at the far end of the gala. Over one thousand guests were sipping on glasses of wine. Relishing the hors d’oeuvres. A volunteer at the entrance of the gala asked how we acquired our tickets. We weren’t sure. Somebody at the hospital had given them to us. We stumbled over our words, “Our ten-year-old, Teddy, has a spinal column and brain tumor.” She smiled sweetly and spread her hands toward the event, “All of this is for you. For Teddy.” Stunned, we didn’t know what to say. We suddenly felt part of a very large family that we had no idea existed. We had only heard tales of such things. This was artma. A city-wide fundraiser hosted by The Morgan Adams Foundation.

This was the first time we had left Teddy alone after one month of living at Children’s Hospital Colorado. One month earlier on January 12th, 2010, Teddy was diagnosed with a highly invasive tumor that grew inside his spinal column from the middle of this back up through the lower part of his brain. He was initially given a 30% chance of survival.

Teddy braved emergency surgery to debulk as much of the tumor as possible. The tumor’s expansive bulk was cutting off the neurological highway in his spinal column, thus shutting down the use of his limbs. Though his neurosurgeon successfully removed a large portion of the tumor, Teddy woke up from surgery significantly paralyzed from the neck down with no promise to ever walk again. We weren’t just fighting for his life, we were fighting for his quality of life for however many years we had him with us.

We never knew if we’d ever bring our son home again. Teddy completed six months of grueling physical therapy and forty-two rounds of chemo.

We’re so grateful. God’s grace. The nimble hands of a neurosurgeon. The tenacity of his pediatric neuro-oncologists. The gift of one brave little boy. The inspiration of The Morgan Adams Foundation.

Teddy now spends his days romping on the ranch, collecting red ants with minute motor skills and getting into all kinds of normal boy trouble.