ROBBINSDALE, Minn. -- As Brian and Amanda Lease watched their children play on Thanksgiving morning, they couldn't help but consider themselves lucky. "We're a happy family, you know, the kids love each other," Brian said.
So they give thanks. Thanks to the doctors who are treating their son, and thanks to the family and friends who support them. When their son Noah was two years old, he went in for an MRI. "At that time they found an optic glioma, which is a tumor on his optic nerve. About a month later, Noah started to run into things. He'd walk into a bedroom, he'd turn too soon, and he'd hit the doorframe," Lease recalled. His vision was affected by that tumor.
Noah has neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder where tumors attach themselves along the nervous system. After 14 months of draining chemotherapy, doctors managed to knock down the size of the tumor significantly by October of 2008.
"Then in April of 09', the tumor blew up in size considerably," Brian explained. The family will find out if the latest round of chemo was successful next week.
Meanwhile, Noah gets plenty of love and attention from his two sisters, 9 year old Madelyn and 7 year old Isabelle. Both continue to give him more love than he could have ever hoped for; more than his parents could have ever imagined possible.
That is why the Lease's give thanks, not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day.
Brian Lease has started running marathons to raise money for NF research. Last year he covered more than a 1,000 miles for the cause. If you'd like to learn more about NF or how you can help raise money go to http://www.ctf.org/.
(Copyright 2009 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
