Alexander’s Bright Future Fund
Donation protected
https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/boardman-14-year-old-battles-bone-cancer-will-have-leg-amputated/
Hello everyone, I am Katie, Alexander’s mom. I am raising funds for Alexander’s future. My son Alexander was diagnosed with stage 3 osteosarcoma, bone cancer, in November of 2021. It started one day as a pain in the ankle which we thought he just must have twisted his ankle because the pain would come and go. Once the pain didn’t go away in a few weeks, we took him to get an X-ray and exam on the leg. We were told nothing was wrong with it, it was not broken and everything was fine. We were keeping it wrapped up and iced and using ibuprofen for pain. Then another few weeks passed and suddenly the ankle/leg became swollen, the foot twitching, and my son waking us up during the night in pain. The next day we set up an appointment with a sports medicine specialist. From this X-ray, it was showing that the ankle was in fact broken but it healed improperly (they thought, until later) and that was what was going on. But in the X-ray the doctor also saw some unusual swelling. The doctor set up a bone biopsy along with maybe CT scans and MRIs. During the wait for these procedures, Alex’s pain skyrocketed. He was in such excruciating pain that he couldn’t even move his leg, and it had to be elevated at a certain angle to even make the pain bearable. Even walking to the bathroom (he was given a support boot and crutches at this time) was so unbearable he would scream and shake in a cold sweat from the pain.
Before this point even we were getting doctors note after doctors note to keep him out of school. Alex went to charter school and has been an honors student since 2nd grade.
All of this happened shortly after we made a big move across the country from New Bedford, MA
to Boardman, a suburb of Youngstown, OH, 10 hours away. We moved here to have a change at a beautiful home with a yard, a nice neighborhood for our 5 children to grow up in. We scrimped and saved for 12 years to get our family home here. It was a fixer upper, and a risk, but over 2 months of work in summer 2021, we made it a home. The kids were all ready to start their new school. And that was when soon after, our world came crashing down. A parents worst nightmare.
The biopsy came back.
Alex had cancer.
My precious little boy.
These months have been hard on the family, the hardest times of our lives. My son Alex, shortly after diagnosis, had to have a device called a med port inserted in his chest that is attached to his heart vein. This is what is used to administer the chemotherapy, because it would destroy his arm veins. This is how the nurses access his vein to administer his medications.
Alex is set up for 7-9 rounds of chemotherapy, each round is 5 weeks. He has completed 2 rounds so far. He has to be admitted for chemotherapy which makes him sick to his stomach 3 times a month.
Each admission he stays 3-5 days and me or my husband stays with him. He also had to be readmitted for fevers and had caught Covid 19 even though we were all as careful as could be.
So he has spent more of the time in the hospital. When he is not admitted, he has to go for a blood test. He had too low of a blood count and had to receive a blood transfusion. He must undergo tests to make sure his hearing is the same because chemotherapy could cause hearing loss.
Alex is 14 years old and his life has been flipped on his head. He is enrolled in online schooling, but we are having to set up a 504 plan because many days he can’t keep his eyes open or sit up, let alone do schoolwork. This is extremely hard on him as he always prided himself on academic excellence.
We recently went back to visit the sports medicine doctor who is doing the surgery. At the beginning we were told the chemotherapy could shrink the tumor and it could be removed simply.
Well months of treatment passed and the time came to talk about the surgery so he went for the bone scan, MRI, and CT scan and unfortunately the bone has been so destroyed by the tumor that my son must have his right leg amputated below the knee. He gets around now with a walker for short distances and a wheelchair for anything further than a few steps. It will take weeks to heal, and over 3 months from then to receive a prosthetic.
Alex is prescribed 8 different medications ranging from narcotic pain medications, antinausea, antibiotics he must take regularly, anti acids, among others. We also have a home exercise program we follow daily. to keep his thigh muscles strong.
Our family is devastated from the challenges we are facing, through it all we thank God that our son will live.
This fund is for 14 year old Alex on the day he goes to college, something for him to see for his future, that one day this will all be a memory, a hurdle, a climb that he accomplished, and that he never ever gave up. My Warrior, Alexander.
Hello everyone, I am Katie, Alexander’s mom. I am raising funds for Alexander’s future. My son Alexander was diagnosed with stage 3 osteosarcoma, bone cancer, in November of 2021. It started one day as a pain in the ankle which we thought he just must have twisted his ankle because the pain would come and go. Once the pain didn’t go away in a few weeks, we took him to get an X-ray and exam on the leg. We were told nothing was wrong with it, it was not broken and everything was fine. We were keeping it wrapped up and iced and using ibuprofen for pain. Then another few weeks passed and suddenly the ankle/leg became swollen, the foot twitching, and my son waking us up during the night in pain. The next day we set up an appointment with a sports medicine specialist. From this X-ray, it was showing that the ankle was in fact broken but it healed improperly (they thought, until later) and that was what was going on. But in the X-ray the doctor also saw some unusual swelling. The doctor set up a bone biopsy along with maybe CT scans and MRIs. During the wait for these procedures, Alex’s pain skyrocketed. He was in such excruciating pain that he couldn’t even move his leg, and it had to be elevated at a certain angle to even make the pain bearable. Even walking to the bathroom (he was given a support boot and crutches at this time) was so unbearable he would scream and shake in a cold sweat from the pain.
Before this point even we were getting doctors note after doctors note to keep him out of school. Alex went to charter school and has been an honors student since 2nd grade.
All of this happened shortly after we made a big move across the country from New Bedford, MA
to Boardman, a suburb of Youngstown, OH, 10 hours away. We moved here to have a change at a beautiful home with a yard, a nice neighborhood for our 5 children to grow up in. We scrimped and saved for 12 years to get our family home here. It was a fixer upper, and a risk, but over 2 months of work in summer 2021, we made it a home. The kids were all ready to start their new school. And that was when soon after, our world came crashing down. A parents worst nightmare.
The biopsy came back.
Alex had cancer.
My precious little boy.
These months have been hard on the family, the hardest times of our lives. My son Alex, shortly after diagnosis, had to have a device called a med port inserted in his chest that is attached to his heart vein. This is what is used to administer the chemotherapy, because it would destroy his arm veins. This is how the nurses access his vein to administer his medications.
Alex is set up for 7-9 rounds of chemotherapy, each round is 5 weeks. He has completed 2 rounds so far. He has to be admitted for chemotherapy which makes him sick to his stomach 3 times a month.
Each admission he stays 3-5 days and me or my husband stays with him. He also had to be readmitted for fevers and had caught Covid 19 even though we were all as careful as could be.
So he has spent more of the time in the hospital. When he is not admitted, he has to go for a blood test. He had too low of a blood count and had to receive a blood transfusion. He must undergo tests to make sure his hearing is the same because chemotherapy could cause hearing loss.
Alex is 14 years old and his life has been flipped on his head. He is enrolled in online schooling, but we are having to set up a 504 plan because many days he can’t keep his eyes open or sit up, let alone do schoolwork. This is extremely hard on him as he always prided himself on academic excellence.
We recently went back to visit the sports medicine doctor who is doing the surgery. At the beginning we were told the chemotherapy could shrink the tumor and it could be removed simply.
Well months of treatment passed and the time came to talk about the surgery so he went for the bone scan, MRI, and CT scan and unfortunately the bone has been so destroyed by the tumor that my son must have his right leg amputated below the knee. He gets around now with a walker for short distances and a wheelchair for anything further than a few steps. It will take weeks to heal, and over 3 months from then to receive a prosthetic.
Alex is prescribed 8 different medications ranging from narcotic pain medications, antinausea, antibiotics he must take regularly, anti acids, among others. We also have a home exercise program we follow daily. to keep his thigh muscles strong.
Our family is devastated from the challenges we are facing, through it all we thank God that our son will live.
This fund is for 14 year old Alex on the day he goes to college, something for him to see for his future, that one day this will all be a memory, a hurdle, a climb that he accomplished, and that he never ever gave up. My Warrior, Alexander.
Organizer
Kathryn Perry
Organizer
Youngstown, OH
