Nathan's Story(osteosarcoma)round 1 then 2 with metastatic bi-lateral lung(still osteosarcoma)cancer--round 3 and 4 with t-MDS/with HAPLO bone marrow transplant --round 5 with t-AML... Help and Making AWARENESS...PO Box 213 Galena MD He took a break on the bench and as he was rubbing his leg he came across a bump just below his knee. As most kids, Nathan didn't pay much attention to this at the ti
me. In fact he didn't even tell anyone so it went unnoticed. This took place back in August of 2010. Nathan went on to play the rest of the season out as defense for his team. It was not until the middle of October that he came to me to show me this "bump" he had on his leg. We had no idea he had this bump since August so I said to him, "Let's keep an eye on it and see what it does. You have lots of bumps and bruises, that's what lil boys get from playing so hard." As time went on the "bump" never bruised nor showed any signs of going away eventually it started to become more painful and uncomfortable and started to bother Nathan's knee. I decided enough time had gone by so I made him an appointment. The appointment was on November 18, 2010 at 9:00am. That morning I figured he was going to have some x-rays. I didn't want to have to make two trips to town. We were able to get in for the x-ray by 10am and that way I could have him back to school around 10:30am. I received a phone call by 11:00am, my heart sunk as they told me to take him to the Emergency Oncology Department. They had already set up an appointment at A.I. DuPont Hospital.....
Nathan was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) on Nov. 18, 2010. He started chemotherapy at AI DuPont on Thanksgiving Day of 2010 and has been handling it like a trooper. Our family has been spending endles day and hours at DuPont . This has been very difficult on our family. We have another son who is in his senior year of High School. Being a senior and dealing with the stress of what you will do once you graduate is already enough of a challenge, but for him having to cope with his little brother being diagnosed with cancer was what topped all of that... He has also been feeling alone because of all the time we spend up in the hospital with Nathan's chemo treatments. Nathan's chemo is scheduled as an in-patient treatment. When everything goes according to plan it is almost tolerable. As we have all learned through this process, nothing goes according to plan. Nathan can get sick at any given moment and end up back at the hospital in moments. Nathan cannot attend school for fear of getting sick. Not only that, but his treatments take up all of his time. When he's not getting chemo he is fighting to keep his blood counts up high enough just to have a good day. Nathan can have a friend over to keep him company or play, but that does not happen very often. There have been ups and downs in our family as we have dealt with this nightmare of a situation, but we are a tight family and we have managed to overcome all the hurtles that have tried to impair us. The first week in February of 2011 Nathan underwent surgery on his leg to remove the tumor. This operation consisted of part of his Tibia being removed, where the Osteosarcoma was located. They also removed some of his thigh for connection purposes and replaced it with a prosthesis, taking their place which includes the knee joint. This sounds terrifying for anyone to go through, but Nathan at age 9 only heard one thing. What he heard was that he would never be able to play soccer again. Nathan is very proud of the awards he earned during his time playing soccer and is always eager to tell you stories about his fantastic soccer maneuvers. He has one champion trophie and three participant medals. Nathan has been pulled out of school for the 2010-2011 year to undergo the treatments and recover from the surgery, and even with all he is going through would like to help other people who have cancer. In the summer of 2011 while still undergoing chemo treatments he joined "The American Cancer Society's, Relay for Life" as a team member of "Going for the GOLD", to try and help raise funds to fight against this horrific disease. He raised so much he won the "Individuals award" for fundraising. During all this he also was proudly able to make contributions to other Childhood Cancer organizations as well. His strength and courage is a testimony for others diagnosed with cancer to fight and stay strong. Nathan's goal in life has always been to make sure everyone was having a good day. He has had his own problems as every child does growing up but his problems never come first. He has always set his own problems aside and takes the time to make sure everyone else is "OK", as long as they are having a "good day" then he can too
Jan. 2012; Nathan did great with that round ended the chemo in Aug. 2011 and went to school a couple days a week for half days only to find the cancer had come back within 6mos time. Nathan under went lung surgery to remove tumors from both lungs and back into chemo he went, Now he's fighting metastatic bi-lateral lung cancer on top of trying to get over and recover from almost a year of chemo and major surgery...Nathan has ended his chemo in Sept. of 2012, not because he was done but because his organs were showing such side effects that the Drs felt the chemo had to be stopped to give him any chance of a "normal" life without any organ failure...the news is he's very high relapse risk, so it boils down to not "if" but "when". At 15 Nathan went on to fight a secondary cancer, cause by 2 of his chemotherapies, this was blood cancer known as t-MDS-L+. After a long hard battle and a bone marrow transplant, Nathan relapsed and eventually the t-MDS-L+ grew into t-AML and within a week of that diagnosis and after fighting for over 7years, at age 16, Nathan passed away on Jan. 9, 2018. At Nathans Story we wanted you to understand the difficulties of what happens when a family is faced with this life threatening disease called CANCER (bone). So many families have had to face this heart wrenching reality of being diagnosed with cancer (bone), and as you read Nathans Story you will see his strength and that he is able to see through his own difficulties and take a look at the bigger picture about others facing cancer. Even though Nathan has been diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer), he had joined The American Cancer Society and Relay for Life IN 2011 to help others with cancer, as well as being involved in several other events that either raise awareness/funds for childhood cancer or being part of the events at the hospital, he speaks to kids and groups along with his mother about Nathan's battle and childhood cancer. Nathan's goal: He wanted to make sure awareness is spread and more become aware of childhood cancer and all it steals away, and his hope and ours is that you will allow his memory and mission to carry on and let the other children and families to see the good that can come from people coming together to fight this terrible disease. As Nathan once said "One child diagnosed is too many"
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