He is 5 years old, has 2 older sisters and a younger brother and he lives in the Jimi Valley. The information isn't much, but knowing it attached me even more to the little person laying on the table. His mom brought him in because of left sided abdominal pain, which he has had on and off for a number of years. This time, it has been there for 2 days and he hasn't really wanted to eat. When I looked at him, I saw a cute kid, who looked a little thin and whose belly was protruding a bit. When I examined him, he didn't cry nor did he seem afraid, but laid perfectly still while I pushed and poked him.
His belly was soft, not very noisy, and had a mass on the left side, which I thought most likely was a big spleen because he lives in the Jimi Valley. I got an X-ray and blood test, which didn't help me much, so then I told them to the ultrasound room to look at the abdominal mass. Instead of the normal architecture of the spleen, I found a big fluid filled mass instead. I never identified anything that looked like spleen, but Bill helped me find a very squished kidney under the mass. So most likely this is a huge splenic cyst of some sort. Hopefully we will find out in the next few weeks when Jim and/or Ben cuts it out.
Please pray for this family, for Joel, his parents and his siblings as they face some uncertainty in the days ahead, but are trusting in the One whose has gone before them and who will stand with them through this all.