I Don’t Like to Say the “C” Word (Part 1)

I was on my way to the University of Alabama with a couple of Upward Bound students to tour campus and my phone rang. It was a nurse from the UAB Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Clinic at Children’s Hospital. My nine-year-old son, Nicholas, had a synovial sarcoma. Cancer.

It started with a lump. Well…it really started with a scream. Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas of last yeat, Nicholas and his sister were playing in his room, and as often happens, it got a little rough. Usually, someone ends up crying with their feelings hurt. Usually it is Katy. This time it was Nick screaming in pain and anger about Katy hurting his arm. A close look at Nicks arm showed a small knot on his right wrist. It looked like the kind of goseegg one might get when one bumps one’s head on a cabinet or something.

Only it didn’t go away.