In 2008, Elizabeth began experiencing pain in her legs. The pain began to get worse and over the course of six days we took her to the Emergency Room on four separate occasions.
On September 28, 2009, Elizabeth underwent surgery and it was discovered that she has Ewing’s Sarcoma. During this surgery, a biopsy was taken of the mass, and other tissue samples were taken to determine the stage of the cancer. Additionally, a port was put in so that chemo therapy can be administered.
For those unfamiliar with Ewing’s Sarcoma — it is a type of cancer. The cancer can start in bone or in soft tissues. The most common sites for Ewing’s sarcoma are the pelvis, the thigh, and the trunk of the body. The peak ages are between 10 and 20, but younger children and older adults can also get Ewing’s sarcoma. The cause of Ewing’s sarcoma is unknown. The most common early signs of Ewing’s sarcoma are pain and swelling. Like other sarcomas, Ewing’s sarcoma can spread to other parts of the body. Even when the tumor is detected at a very small size, there may be evidence of microscopic spread. For this reason, Ewing’s sarcoma always requires treatment to the whole body. This treatment includes chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is intended to destroy the tumor cells which have spread to the rest of the body and to shrink the main mass of tumor cells.
Update 7/7/11: Elizabeth underwent 14 rounds of chemo for nonmetastatic Ewing’s Sarcoma of the pelvis. After round 6 of chemotherapy, Elizabeth had a hemipelvectomy in which the cancerous bone in her pelvis was removed. After the 8th round of chemo, a terrible infection set in that caused Elizabeth to need surgery twice a week for over two months. During this time, chemo was stopped for 3-months to allow time for healing. Elizabeth finally finished chemo in October of 2010 and is now in remission. Hooray!
After treatment was finished, Elizabeth has remained cancer-free, but has other complications including kidney infections, kidney stones, and degenerative arthritis in her hip, bladder problems, chronic pain and low bone density. However, she has a positive attitude, finds enjoyment in her life, and of course her family is happy to see her smiling face each day.
