Henry Osborn
photo provided
Henry Osborn had just started three-year-old preschool, and was adjusting to his new schedule and student life when everything abruptly and frighteningly changed.
“He had complained about having some eye pain last weekend, but nothing beyond that,” James Osborn, Henry’s father, said. “But on Monday (Aug. 26), my wife Chloe picked him up from preschool and noticed his eyes were crossed all of a sudden.”
Chloe Osborn is a nurse, and she immediately recognized the potential problems that could cause the crossed eyes. Chloe and James took Henry to see his doctor, and in no time at all they were headed to St Louis Children’s Hospital.
This shirt has been designed and is being sold by the Bluff Church with all proceeds going to help the Osborn family cover expenses.
photo provided
“After we got to St Louis, they started doing tests and scans,” James explained. “Once Henry was laying down to rest, the doctor asked to speak to me and my wife in another room. I think we kind of knew it was going to be bad news at that point.”
The doctor informed the concerned parents that Henry had a 10cm tumor pushing on his brain stem and it needed to be removed immediately.
“The whole time, throughout everything, Henry acted normal except for the fact that he was squinting a lot,” James remarked. “The next morning, they did an MRI and said he needed to have the tumor removed immediately.”
Henry underwent an 8 hour-long surgical procedure to remove the tumor. According to James, the surgeon said everything went as well as could be hoped for.
“It’s definitely a crazy situation, but things couldn’t have been any better. After his surgery, Henry told his mom, ‘Scratch my back and turn off the light. I want to sleep,’” James noted. “Now we will have to just see how everything goes.”
Both James and Chloe will be waiting for possibly three weeks to learn what the immediate future holds for Henry.
“The surgeon said that he believes the tumor he removed is grade 4 cancerous,” James explained. “If the tumor was cancerous, then Henry will need to do radiation and chemotherapy for the next year. We’re hopeful and we’re praying that the report will come back saying it wasn’t cancerous. The main thing right now is him dealing with pain in his head and neck.”
While James and Chloe stay with their son in St. Louis, the Bluff Church in Poplar Bluff is raising money to help them.
“We’re just trying to gather what funds we can to help the family offset their expenses,” Dave Elledge, co-pastor of Bluff Church explained. “We want to take the burden off of that family as much as possible. This will probably be a long and tiring experience for them.”
Elledge explained that some of his congregants have designed an original T-shirt they are selling to raise funds for the family. The shirt says “His fight is my fight” and has the hashtag #teamhenry.
“We’re also going to be selling key chains as well,” Elledge explained. “All of the proceeds will go directly to the family. My understanding is that the most recent report is positive, but they have a long journey ahead of them.”
The fund is set up through the church, and it is explained on the church’s social media posts that any banking or credit card fees will be covered by the church.
Anyone interested in donating is encouraged to select “Henry Osborn Fund” when making their donation online at thebluff.church.
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