Day 11…We rode for Erin and Chase!
Today was an awesome ride for two awesome kids in Erin and Chase…Erin came to our hotel last night in Danville with her parents. That was a tearjerker for me. To hear her story of getting osteosarcoma at the age of eight during the pandemic and battling that nasty disease that ultimately led to a prosthetic femur was just too much for me!!! Erin had multiple close calls but none more so than her reaction to the “standard protocol for osteosarcoma”. The crazy thing is the standard protocol for osteosarcoma has been the same since 1970!!!! WTH!!! We have modern medicine that was able to save Erin as an antidote to her bad reaction to the “standard protocol” but we are still dealing with the treatment plan designed in 1970. It’s disheartening. Quite frankly, it is disgusting that we do not have enough funding to improve the standard protocol. No disrespect to the pharmaceutical companies, but if there was more money in improving the outcomes, my general feeling is the standard protocol would be modern versus archaic!
Chase was two years old when we first heard the words “there’s a large mass” - after weeks of pain, sickness and multiple misdiagnoses. In under 48 hours, Chase was on an operating table because his brain tumor had grown so large/so fast that it was pushing one half of his brain into the other and causing near constant seizures. He came through the surgery alive, but the neurosurgeon told us that not only had the tumor tested and typed as an incredibly rare malignant cancer, but also that, when he had Chase’s skull open, he personally witnessed the cancer cells all over the brain - “too prolific to remove”. They would go on to find it in his spine too.
The next two years of treatment took Chase to the edge of life many times, but he never gave up. If we added up all the procedures, transfusions, chemo drugs and other various things done to Chase or given to him - the number would easily be in the hundreds. For example: he was giving 10 chemotherapies, sometimes as many as 5 on a single visit, and he had 30 red blood cell transfusions in 13 months to keep him alive.
Because Chase is among the first generation to survive his cancer, no doctors really know how long he will continue to fight, or what complications still lay before him. He is considered one of the lucky ones.
The medical challenges that Chase faced and will continue to face are overwhelming. And the number of friends he has buried is so high that he talks about when “it’s my turn” and who will carry his coffin.
None of us know how much time we will have with Chase, or if his final chapter will involve a cancer, a side effect, or both. But we do know that Chase has never and will never give up. His heart to win is only matched by his sass (as Bucky can attest). So we continue with our journey as you do yours - moment by moment.
My hand was killing me today, but it didn’t matter, because the pain and suffering did not even scratch the surface of how difficult Erin and Chase’s lives have been. I’ll go to the doctor on Monday my ligaments and bones will heal, but my heart will forever be filled by the stories of the kids that we ride for! To all those kids that have cancer, I just pray that you have the courage to fight, you have the support you need, and you will survive this nasty disease 🙏🏼
I will tell you that Erin’s personality, not only lights up a room, but she lights up the stage with her interest in theater and the performing arts. She is an absolutely amazing 12-year-old. I’ve never met anyone like her and think about her journey and how bright her star is incredible!
I haven’t had a chance to meet Chase yet, but my friend Ken Buckman shared his story with us today. I can’t imagine how Chase has made it through his battle for as long as he has. He is an amazing young man. Truly amazing!
I haven’t had a chance to meet Chase yet, but my friend Ken Buckman shared his story with us today. I can’t imagine how Chase has made it through his battle for as long as he has. He is an amazing young man. Truly amazing!
Chase was two years old when we first heard the words “there’s a large mass” - after weeks of pain, sickness and multiple misdiagnoses. In under 48 hours, Chase was on an operating table because his brain tumor had grown so large/so fast that it was pushing one half of his brain into the other and causing near constant seizures. He came through the surgery alive, but the neurosurgeon told us that not only had the tumor tested and typed as an incredibly rare malignant cancer, but also that, when he had Chase’s skull open, he personally witnessed the cancer cells all over the brain - “too prolific to remove”. They would go on to find it in his spine too.
The next two years of treatment took Chase to the edge of life many times, but he never gave up. If we added up all the procedures, transfusions, chemo drugs and other various things done to Chase or given to him - the number would easily be in the hundreds. For example: he was giving 10 chemotherapies, sometimes as many as 5 on a single visit, and he had 30 red blood cell transfusions in 13 months to keep him alive.
But perhaps the most profound aspect of Chase’s diagnosis is that as intense as the treatment was, it never did reach the cancer cells on the other side of the blood brain barrier and we were told that Chase’s options were to attempt full brain and spine radiation, or take him home and make him comfortable.
We opted for radiation. And it saved his life, but not without significant collateral damages: including a second cancer. Seven years after his first cancer, Chase was diagnosed with metastatic thyroid cancer.
He received the news that the treatment was working on the thyroid cancer just a few months before a scan would show mild liver and heart failure - due to the collective weight of his many treatments over the years.
He received the news that the treatment was working on the thyroid cancer just a few months before a scan would show mild liver and heart failure - due to the collective weight of his many treatments over the years.
Because Chase is among the first generation to survive his cancer, no doctors really know how long he will continue to fight, or what complications still lay before him. He is considered one of the lucky ones.
The medical challenges that Chase faced and will continue to face are overwhelming. And the number of friends he has buried is so high that he talks about when “it’s my turn” and who will carry his coffin.
None of us know how much time we will have with Chase, or if his final chapter will involve a cancer, a side effect, or both. But we do know that Chase has never and will never give up. His heart to win is only matched by his sass (as Bucky can attest). So we continue with our journey as you do yours - moment by moment.
My hand was killing me today, but it didn’t matter, because the pain and suffering did not even scratch the surface of how difficult Erin and Chase’s lives have been. I’ll go to the doctor on Monday my ligaments and bones will heal, but my heart will forever be filled by the stories of the kids that we ride for! To all those kids that have cancer, I just pray that you have the courage to fight, you have the support you need, and you will survive this nasty disease 🙏🏼
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