Our
daughter, Bailey, was a healthy and active ten year old. As spring of
2012 approached, she had been complaining of knee pain for about two
months. She was very athletic and participated in many sports, so we
attributed it to an overuse injury. But the pain did not improve, and
after a terrifying week that included an x-ray, MRI and a biopsy, we
were given the shocking news that she had a malignant bone tumor in her
lower femur that had also invaded her knee.
In the span of five days, we went from a normal, happy family, to a family of a child with osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma is a very aggressive bone cancer, and thus, the treatment is vigorous as well. It consists of ten weeks of chemotherapy, then surgery to resect the tumor, followed by another twenty weeks of chemotherapy. Learning that your child has cancer is earth-shattering; however, just a few short weeks after her diagnosis, we also discovered that the options for tumor removal were equally as life-altering. They were not choices any parent ever imagines making. After cancer, Bailey’s hope was to be able to return to her active, athletic lifestyle, so she decided on a form of amputation known as rotationplasty because it would offer her the best opportunity of doing so.
On June 5, 2012, the tumor-infected area of her leg was removed and the bottom portion of her leg was rotated 180 degrees and reattached, thus allowing her ankle to become her new knee. While it looks unusual, it was, for numerous reasons, the most functional and least risky of any of the options. She now wears a prosthetic on the bottom portion of her leg and after a significant amount of hard work, has returned to almost all of the activities she was doing prior to cancer. Bailey finished treatment in October of 2012 and has shown no evidence of disease (NED) since conclusion of her treatment almost three years ago. Due to both the possibility of recurrence as well as the toxicity of the chemotherapy drugs she endured, Bailey will continue to be monitored frequently.
Our prayer is that she will remain cancer free for the next seventy or eighty years. While this has been an unbelievably difficult and unexpected journey, we know that God has carried us both miraculously and in the tangible hands of our community. We trust Him to give us the grace and stamina we need to travel this unexpected path. We also feel that our eyes were opened to this horrific world of childhood cancer so that we can passionately fight for the kids who cannot fight for themselves. It is imperative that we raise awareness and funding for more effective and less toxic treatments. It is crucial to find a cure, but it is also critical to develop medicines that do not destroy hearing, cardiac function, cause infertility, impair cognitive ability, cause secondary cancers or do any of the other damage on the list of possible late-effects. The horror that cancer families are forced to walk through is tragic and no child should have to deal with this level of fear and pain. These kids need us to care, but more importantly, they need us to act. We must find better treatments. Children deserve a chance at a normal, happy, healthy life, and families must have hope. Please join us in this fight! - See more at: http://curechildhoodcancer.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1142912&lis=1&kntae1142912=2F3615E14B81445CB95B6A5082F3DC74&supId=425395708#sthash.X2xCYxTd.dpuf
In the span of five days, we went from a normal, happy family, to a family of a child with osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma is a very aggressive bone cancer, and thus, the treatment is vigorous as well. It consists of ten weeks of chemotherapy, then surgery to resect the tumor, followed by another twenty weeks of chemotherapy. Learning that your child has cancer is earth-shattering; however, just a few short weeks after her diagnosis, we also discovered that the options for tumor removal were equally as life-altering. They were not choices any parent ever imagines making. After cancer, Bailey’s hope was to be able to return to her active, athletic lifestyle, so she decided on a form of amputation known as rotationplasty because it would offer her the best opportunity of doing so.
On June 5, 2012, the tumor-infected area of her leg was removed and the bottom portion of her leg was rotated 180 degrees and reattached, thus allowing her ankle to become her new knee. While it looks unusual, it was, for numerous reasons, the most functional and least risky of any of the options. She now wears a prosthetic on the bottom portion of her leg and after a significant amount of hard work, has returned to almost all of the activities she was doing prior to cancer. Bailey finished treatment in October of 2012 and has shown no evidence of disease (NED) since conclusion of her treatment almost three years ago. Due to both the possibility of recurrence as well as the toxicity of the chemotherapy drugs she endured, Bailey will continue to be monitored frequently.
Our prayer is that she will remain cancer free for the next seventy or eighty years. While this has been an unbelievably difficult and unexpected journey, we know that God has carried us both miraculously and in the tangible hands of our community. We trust Him to give us the grace and stamina we need to travel this unexpected path. We also feel that our eyes were opened to this horrific world of childhood cancer so that we can passionately fight for the kids who cannot fight for themselves. It is imperative that we raise awareness and funding for more effective and less toxic treatments. It is crucial to find a cure, but it is also critical to develop medicines that do not destroy hearing, cardiac function, cause infertility, impair cognitive ability, cause secondary cancers or do any of the other damage on the list of possible late-effects. The horror that cancer families are forced to walk through is tragic and no child should have to deal with this level of fear and pain. These kids need us to care, but more importantly, they need us to act. We must find better treatments. Children deserve a chance at a normal, happy, healthy life, and families must have hope. Please join us in this fight! - See more at: http://curechildhoodcancer.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1142912&lis=1&kntae1142912=2F3615E14B81445CB95B6A5082F3DC74&supId=425395708#sthash.X2xCYxTd.dpuf
Our daughter, Bailey, was a healthy and active ten year old. As spring of 2012 approached, she had been complaining of knee pain for about two months. She was very athletic and participated in many sports, so we attributed it to an overuse injury. But the pain did not improve and after a terrifying week that included an x-ray, MRI and a biopsy, we were given the shocking news that she had a malignant bone tumor in her lower femur that had also invaded her knee. In the span of five days, we went from a normal, happy family, to a family of a child with osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma is a very aggressive bone cancer, and thus, the treatment is vigorous as well. It consists of ten weeks of chemotherapy, then surgery to resect the tumor, followed by another twenty weeks of chemotherapy. Learning that your child has cancer is earth-shattering; however, just a few short weeks after her diagnosis, we also discovered that the options for tumor removal were equally as life-altering. They were not choices any parent ever imagines making. After cancer, Bailey’s hope was to be able to return to her active, athletic lifestyle, so she decided on a form of amputation known as rotationplasty because it would offer her the best opportunity of doing so. On June 5, 2012, the tumor infected area of her leg was removed and the bottom portion of her leg was rotated 180 degrees and reattached, thus allowing her ankle to become her new knee. While it looks unusual, it was, for numerous reasons, the most functional and least risky of any of the options. She now wears a prosthetic on the bottom portion of her leg and after a significant amount of hard work, has returned to almost all of the activities she was doing prior to cancer. Bailey finished treatment in October of 2012 and has shown no evidence of disease (NED) since conclusion of her treatment almost three years ago. Due to both the possibility of recurrence as well as the toxicity of the chemotherapy drugs she endured, Bailey will continue to be monitored frequently. Our prayer is that she will remain cancer free for the next seventy or eighty years. While this has been an unbelievably difficult and unexpected journey, we know that God has carried us both miraculously and in the tangible hands of our community. We are trusting Him to give us the grace and stamina we need to travel this unexpected path. We also feel that our eyes were opened to this horrific world of childhood cancer so that we can passionately fight for the kids who cannot fight for themselves. It is imperative that we raise awareness and funding for more effective and less toxic treatments. It is crucial to find a cure, but it is also critical to develop medicines that do not destroy hearing, cardiac function, cause infertility, impair cognitive ability, cause secondary cancers or do any of the other damage on the list of possible late-effects. The horror that cancer families are forced to walk through is tragic and no child should have to deal with this level of fear and pain. These kids need us to care, but more importantly, they need us to act. We must find better treatments. Children deserve a chance at a normal, happy, healthy life and families must have hope. Please join us in this fight!
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Our
daughter, Bailey, was a healthy and active ten year old. As spring of
2012 approached, she had been complaining of knee pain for about two
months. She was very athletic and participated in many sports, so we
attributed it to an overuse injury. But the pain did not improve, and
after a terrifying week that included an x-ray, MRI and a biopsy, we
were given the shocking news that she had a malignant bone tumor in her
lower femur that had also invaded her knee.
In the span of five days, we went from a normal, happy family, to a family of a child with osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma is a very aggressive bone cancer, and thus, the treatment is vigorous as well. It consists of ten weeks of chemotherapy, then surgery to resect the tumor, followed by another twenty weeks of chemotherapy. Learning that your child has cancer is earth-shattering; however, just a few short weeks after her diagnosis, we also discovered that the options for tumor removal were equally as life-altering. They were not choices any parent ever imagines making. After cancer, Bailey’s hope was to be able to return to her active, athletic lifestyle, so she decided on a form of amputation known as rotationplasty because it would offer her the best opportunity of doing so.
On June 5, 2012, the tumor-infected area of her leg was removed and the bottom portion of her leg was rotated 180 degrees and reattached, thus allowing her ankle to become her new knee. While it looks unusual, it was, for numerous reasons, the most functional and least risky of any of the options. She now wears a prosthetic on the bottom portion of her leg and after a significant amount of hard work, has returned to almost all of the activities she was doing prior to cancer. Bailey finished treatment in October of 2012 and has shown no evidence of disease (NED) since conclusion of her treatment almost three years ago. Due to both the possibility of recurrence as well as the toxicity of the chemotherapy drugs she endured, Bailey will continue to be monitored frequently.
Our prayer is that she will remain cancer free for the next seventy or eighty years. While this has been an unbelievably difficult and unexpected journey, we know that God has carried us both miraculously and in the tangible hands of our community. We trust Him to give us the grace and stamina we need to travel this unexpected path. We also feel that our eyes were opened to this horrific world of childhood cancer so that we can passionately fight for the kids who cannot fight for themselves. It is imperative that we raise awareness and funding for more effective and less toxic treatments. It is crucial to find a cure, but it is also critical to develop medicines that do not destroy hearing, cardiac function, cause infertility, impair cognitive ability, cause secondary cancers or do any of the other damage on the list of possible late-effects. The horror that cancer families are forced to walk through is tragic and no child should have to deal with this level of fear and pain. These kids need us to care, but more importantly, they need us to act. We must find better treatments. Children deserve a chance at a normal, happy, healthy life, and families must have hope. Please join us in this fight! - See more at: http://curechildhoodcancer.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1142912&lis=1&kntae1142912=2F3615E14B81445CB95B6A5082F3DC74&supId=425395708#sthash.X2xCYxTd.dpuf
In the span of five days, we went from a normal, happy family, to a family of a child with osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma is a very aggressive bone cancer, and thus, the treatment is vigorous as well. It consists of ten weeks of chemotherapy, then surgery to resect the tumor, followed by another twenty weeks of chemotherapy. Learning that your child has cancer is earth-shattering; however, just a few short weeks after her diagnosis, we also discovered that the options for tumor removal were equally as life-altering. They were not choices any parent ever imagines making. After cancer, Bailey’s hope was to be able to return to her active, athletic lifestyle, so she decided on a form of amputation known as rotationplasty because it would offer her the best opportunity of doing so.
On June 5, 2012, the tumor-infected area of her leg was removed and the bottom portion of her leg was rotated 180 degrees and reattached, thus allowing her ankle to become her new knee. While it looks unusual, it was, for numerous reasons, the most functional and least risky of any of the options. She now wears a prosthetic on the bottom portion of her leg and after a significant amount of hard work, has returned to almost all of the activities she was doing prior to cancer. Bailey finished treatment in October of 2012 and has shown no evidence of disease (NED) since conclusion of her treatment almost three years ago. Due to both the possibility of recurrence as well as the toxicity of the chemotherapy drugs she endured, Bailey will continue to be monitored frequently.
Our prayer is that she will remain cancer free for the next seventy or eighty years. While this has been an unbelievably difficult and unexpected journey, we know that God has carried us both miraculously and in the tangible hands of our community. We trust Him to give us the grace and stamina we need to travel this unexpected path. We also feel that our eyes were opened to this horrific world of childhood cancer so that we can passionately fight for the kids who cannot fight for themselves. It is imperative that we raise awareness and funding for more effective and less toxic treatments. It is crucial to find a cure, but it is also critical to develop medicines that do not destroy hearing, cardiac function, cause infertility, impair cognitive ability, cause secondary cancers or do any of the other damage on the list of possible late-effects. The horror that cancer families are forced to walk through is tragic and no child should have to deal with this level of fear and pain. These kids need us to care, but more importantly, they need us to act. We must find better treatments. Children deserve a chance at a normal, happy, healthy life, and families must have hope. Please join us in this fight! - See more at: http://curechildhoodcancer.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1142912&lis=1&kntae1142912=2F3615E14B81445CB95B6A5082F3DC74&supId=425395708#sthash.X2xCYxTd.dpuf
Our
daughter, Bailey, was a healthy and active ten year old. As spring of
2012 approached, she had been complaining of knee pain for about two
months. She was very athletic and participated in many sports, so we
attributed it to an overuse injury. But the pain did not improve, and
after a terrifying week that included an x-ray, MRI and a biopsy, we
were given the shocking news that she had a malignant bone tumor in her
lower femur that had also invaded her knee.
In the span of five days, we went from a normal, happy family, to a family of a child with osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma is a very aggressive bone cancer, and thus, the treatment is vigorous as well. It consists of ten weeks of chemotherapy, then surgery to resect the tumor, followed by another twenty weeks of chemotherapy. Learning that your child has cancer is earth-shattering; however, just a few short weeks after her diagnosis, we also discovered that the options for tumor removal were equally as life-altering. They were not choices any parent ever imagines making. After cancer, Bailey’s hope was to be able to return to her active, athletic lifestyle, so she decided on a form of amputation known as rotationplasty because it would offer her the best opportunity of doing so.
On June 5, 2012, the tumor-infected area of her leg was removed and the bottom portion of her leg was rotated 180 degrees and reattached, thus allowing her ankle to become her new knee. While it looks unusual, it was, for numerous reasons, the most functional and least risky of any of the options. She now wears a prosthetic on the bottom portion of her leg and after a significant amount of hard work, has returned to almost all of the activities she was doing prior to cancer. Bailey finished treatment in October of 2012 and has shown no evidence of disease (NED) since conclusion of her treatment almost three years ago. Due to both the possibility of recurrence as well as the toxicity of the chemotherapy drugs she endured, Bailey will continue to be monitored frequently.
Our prayer is that she will remain cancer free for the next seventy or eighty years. While this has been an unbelievably difficult and unexpected journey, we know that God has carried us both miraculously and in the tangible hands of our community. We trust Him to give us the grace and stamina we need to travel this unexpected path. We also feel that our eyes were opened to this horrific world of childhood cancer so that we can passionately fight for the kids who cannot fight for themselves. It is imperative that we raise awareness and funding for more effective and less toxic treatments. It is crucial to find a cure, but it is also critical to develop medicines that do not destroy hearing, cardiac function, cause infertility, impair cognitive ability, cause secondary cancers or do any of the other damage on the list of possible late-effects. The horror that cancer families are forced to walk through is tragic and no child should have to deal with this level of fear and pain. These kids need us to care, but more importantly, they need us to act. We must find better treatments. Children deserve a chance at a normal, happy, healthy life, and families must have hope. Please join us in this fight! - See more at: http://curechildhoodcancer.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1142912&lis=1&kntae1142912=2F3615E14B81445CB95B6A5082F3DC74&supId=425395708#sthash.X2xCYxTd.dpuf
In the span of five days, we went from a normal, happy family, to a family of a child with osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma is a very aggressive bone cancer, and thus, the treatment is vigorous as well. It consists of ten weeks of chemotherapy, then surgery to resect the tumor, followed by another twenty weeks of chemotherapy. Learning that your child has cancer is earth-shattering; however, just a few short weeks after her diagnosis, we also discovered that the options for tumor removal were equally as life-altering. They were not choices any parent ever imagines making. After cancer, Bailey’s hope was to be able to return to her active, athletic lifestyle, so she decided on a form of amputation known as rotationplasty because it would offer her the best opportunity of doing so.
On June 5, 2012, the tumor-infected area of her leg was removed and the bottom portion of her leg was rotated 180 degrees and reattached, thus allowing her ankle to become her new knee. While it looks unusual, it was, for numerous reasons, the most functional and least risky of any of the options. She now wears a prosthetic on the bottom portion of her leg and after a significant amount of hard work, has returned to almost all of the activities she was doing prior to cancer. Bailey finished treatment in October of 2012 and has shown no evidence of disease (NED) since conclusion of her treatment almost three years ago. Due to both the possibility of recurrence as well as the toxicity of the chemotherapy drugs she endured, Bailey will continue to be monitored frequently.
Our prayer is that she will remain cancer free for the next seventy or eighty years. While this has been an unbelievably difficult and unexpected journey, we know that God has carried us both miraculously and in the tangible hands of our community. We trust Him to give us the grace and stamina we need to travel this unexpected path. We also feel that our eyes were opened to this horrific world of childhood cancer so that we can passionately fight for the kids who cannot fight for themselves. It is imperative that we raise awareness and funding for more effective and less toxic treatments. It is crucial to find a cure, but it is also critical to develop medicines that do not destroy hearing, cardiac function, cause infertility, impair cognitive ability, cause secondary cancers or do any of the other damage on the list of possible late-effects. The horror that cancer families are forced to walk through is tragic and no child should have to deal with this level of fear and pain. These kids need us to care, but more importantly, they need us to act. We must find better treatments. Children deserve a chance at a normal, happy, healthy life, and families must have hope. Please join us in this fight! - See more at: http://curechildhoodcancer.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1142912&lis=1&kntae1142912=2F3615E14B81445CB95B6A5082F3DC74&supId=425395708#sthash.X2xCYxTd.dpuf
