IOWA CITY, Iowa — Call it a parent’s intuition. Call it knowing that expert health care happens at University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Whatever you call it, Atlas Coleman’s family is forever grateful that a second opinion meant an early diagnosis for their baby’s rare, aggressive cancer.
Stacy and Neal Coleman took their son to the emergency room after Atlas suddenly became inconsolable while eating a grilled burger when he was about 15 months old. An X-ray showed no foreign objects, but revealed a lung abnormality, and after a subsequent CT scan, doctors diagnosed Atlas with congenital pulmonary airway malformation, or CPAM, a non-cancerous lung lesion.
While that type of cyst is benign, it had the potential to turn malignant, so it would need to be removed. The couple decided to schedule an appointment at Stead Family Children’s Hospital for another opinion.
Read Atlas’ story here.