Nathan's Fight Against Cancer
Donation protected
In late fall of 2015 Nathaniel McGarrett began experiencing pain in his right knee. Nathaniel is active in his school’s JROTC program, and we related this knee pain back to maybe doing a weird move in class that week. As time progressed, the pain got worse and Nathaniel was taken to multiple doctors to get the knee checked out. The first two doctors claimed it was either a twisted knee or just simply growing pains.
On February 11th, Nathaniel “celebrated” his 13th birthday. While he was happy to have his birthday, it didn’t feel like a special day to him. For Nathaniel, it was just another day trying to make it around school on a very injured and very painful knee. He wasn’t able to have his ideal birthday party of going to the paintball field with all of his friends, because he was incapable of straightening his knee any farther than 100 degrees, therefore rendering him incapable of running around with all of the other kids.
After two failed attempts at diagnosing Nathaniel’s now very swollen and painful knee a third and final doctor was seen who immediately requested an MRI be taken. While waiting the weekend for results of the MRI, Nathaniel began to feel very sick. He was nauseous and running a very high fever. Dad decided to take him to the pediatrician that Monday, February 29th. While waiting for the doctor to come back in, Steve received a phone call from the third doctor who had recommended the MRI. The doctor said that Nathaniel needed to be taken to the emergency room downtown at Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) as soon as possible, that the “inflammation” in Nathaniel’s knee was actually a tumor.
Dad and Nathaniel left the pediatrician and picked up mom from work before heading downtown to TCH. About this time, Nathaniel called his sister Kaylei who attends school in College Station, and told her that he was headed to the emergency room. She packed a few things and drove straight to meet her family downtown. After running a few more blood samples, reviewing the images from the MRI, and consulting a large team of emergency physicians and oncologists, the tumor in Nathaniel’s knee was presumed to be malignant (or cancerous). While this preliminary diagnosis was not a for sure answer, it was a somewhat relief to have an answer finally as to what was causing all of the pain and discomfort.
Once admitted to TCH a biopsy was done to remove some tissue from Nathaniel’s knee and determine once and for all that this tumor was in fact cancerous, and what type of cancer he has. Nathaniel McGarrett was diagnosed with Pleomorphic Liposarcoma. Pleomorphic Liposarcoma is, in laymen’s terms, a very rare very aggressive cancer of the fatty tissues of the extremities.
In addition to this biopsy, a scan called a PET scan was ordered. A positron emission tomography (PET) scan is a type of imaging test that uses a radioactive substance called a tracer to look for disease in the body. This scan was done to check if the cancer in his knee had traveled through the blood stream to anywhere else in his body, a process known as Metastasis. The results from this test were that the cancer had in fact metastasized. The doctors spotted very miniscule tumors in both size and number on the lungs.
Nathaniel is currently undergoing his second cycle of chemotherapy treatment. Some of you may be aware of just how hard that can be, especially for a young child. He is scheduled to have surgery on his knee at the end of May - beginning of June. He will be having a new knee put in, along with partial femur bone replacement.
With all of this being said, bills are staring to pour in and pile up. We are asking that if you have the means to please help out as much or as little as you can, as we have a very long road ahead of us. And if donations aren't possible just sharing this to people you know means the world.
We will continue to update both on here and on Nathaniel’s Facebook page. For all updates on Nathaniel
Nathaniel is a very strong young man who will demolish this cancer!!! #WarriorNathan #NathanStrong
On February 11th, Nathaniel “celebrated” his 13th birthday. While he was happy to have his birthday, it didn’t feel like a special day to him. For Nathaniel, it was just another day trying to make it around school on a very injured and very painful knee. He wasn’t able to have his ideal birthday party of going to the paintball field with all of his friends, because he was incapable of straightening his knee any farther than 100 degrees, therefore rendering him incapable of running around with all of the other kids.
After two failed attempts at diagnosing Nathaniel’s now very swollen and painful knee a third and final doctor was seen who immediately requested an MRI be taken. While waiting the weekend for results of the MRI, Nathaniel began to feel very sick. He was nauseous and running a very high fever. Dad decided to take him to the pediatrician that Monday, February 29th. While waiting for the doctor to come back in, Steve received a phone call from the third doctor who had recommended the MRI. The doctor said that Nathaniel needed to be taken to the emergency room downtown at Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) as soon as possible, that the “inflammation” in Nathaniel’s knee was actually a tumor.
Dad and Nathaniel left the pediatrician and picked up mom from work before heading downtown to TCH. About this time, Nathaniel called his sister Kaylei who attends school in College Station, and told her that he was headed to the emergency room. She packed a few things and drove straight to meet her family downtown. After running a few more blood samples, reviewing the images from the MRI, and consulting a large team of emergency physicians and oncologists, the tumor in Nathaniel’s knee was presumed to be malignant (or cancerous). While this preliminary diagnosis was not a for sure answer, it was a somewhat relief to have an answer finally as to what was causing all of the pain and discomfort.
Once admitted to TCH a biopsy was done to remove some tissue from Nathaniel’s knee and determine once and for all that this tumor was in fact cancerous, and what type of cancer he has. Nathaniel McGarrett was diagnosed with Pleomorphic Liposarcoma. Pleomorphic Liposarcoma is, in laymen’s terms, a very rare very aggressive cancer of the fatty tissues of the extremities.
In addition to this biopsy, a scan called a PET scan was ordered. A positron emission tomography (PET) scan is a type of imaging test that uses a radioactive substance called a tracer to look for disease in the body. This scan was done to check if the cancer in his knee had traveled through the blood stream to anywhere else in his body, a process known as Metastasis. The results from this test were that the cancer had in fact metastasized. The doctors spotted very miniscule tumors in both size and number on the lungs.
Nathaniel is currently undergoing his second cycle of chemotherapy treatment. Some of you may be aware of just how hard that can be, especially for a young child. He is scheduled to have surgery on his knee at the end of May - beginning of June. He will be having a new knee put in, along with partial femur bone replacement.
With all of this being said, bills are staring to pour in and pile up. We are asking that if you have the means to please help out as much or as little as you can, as we have a very long road ahead of us. And if donations aren't possible just sharing this to people you know means the world.
We will continue to update both on here and on Nathaniel’s Facebook page. For all updates on Nathaniel
Nathaniel is a very strong young man who will demolish this cancer!!! #WarriorNathan #NathanStrong
Organizer and beneficiary
Kaylei McGarrett
Organizer
Steve McGarrett
Beneficiary
