
Help Bella Battle Osteosarcoma!
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Bella is a sweet little 15 year old 10th grader from Redlands, CA




We were just finishing up a magical day at Disneyland with the family. My sister, Michelle Carreon, her husband, Robert Carreon, and their three kids and I were about to get on the tram to go home. My sister reached back for her daughter Bella's hand to lead her onto the tram. Instead of grabbing Bella's hand, she grabbed Bella's forearm instead, and it's very fortunate that she did. My sister immediately noticed that it was swollen, however it wasn't red or warm to the touch, and there were no signs of injury. We went to urgent care on the way home to get some x-rays, and the next morning the urgent care called my sister and told her to take Bella to the emergency room right away.

Bella was admitted to the hospital soon after arriving, and spent the next six days undergoing multiple procedures and tests, including a chest x-ray, MRI, CT scan, bone scan (Bella thought it was pretty cool that she was radioactive for 24 hours!), echocardiogram, blood tests, and an open bone biopsy.
Bella has been so upbeat and optimistic throughout all of her testing! She would also like you to know that her motto has been "just do it!" Whenever the doctors or nurses ask if they can check something, test something, wake her up, draw blood, or redo her IV, she doesn't want anyone to count or give her extra time. She knows how important cooperation is to her treatment, so she says, "just do it!" We are so proud of how positive she is!


The biopsy results came back, and Bella's official diagnosis is high-grade osteosarcoma, which is a fast-growing bone cancer. We were told that only about 400 children in the entire US are diagnosed with osteosarcoma each year, with an average diagnosis age of 15 years. The doctor placed a chemo port in Bella's chest to make treatment easier, so that she wouldn't have to keep getting poked by needles every time she comes in. Luckily, the cancer has not spread to her lungs, or any other part of her body, and the tumor in her left arm is the only one she has (thank goodness she's right-handed!). The doctors say that this is the best case scenario, and they are very optimistic that Bella will beat her cancer!

A very unfortunate side effect of the chemotherapy
treatment of Bella's cancer, is that it will most likely make her infertile. Because Bella's cancer is localized, her doctors said that they would be comfortable delaying her chemo treatment for up to two and a half weeks, in order to give her the chance to freeze her eggs. The procedure costs up to $10,000 (with a yearly egg preservation fee of $760), and is not covered by insurance. Bella has always wanted to be a mother, and her parents want to make sure that she has the option to give birth to her own children.
As soon as Bella's eggs are extracted, she can start chemotherapy right away. Bella will have to go through about three months of chemotherapy before she can have bone surgery to remove her tumor. The doctors have said that they will do limb sparing surgery whenever possible. After that, she will need to go through six to nine months of additional chemotherapy to ensure that her cancer is completely gone. In addition, she will need extensive physical therapy to restore normal function to her arm and hand. My sister just got her first insurance claim denial for the day Bella was admitted to the hospital, citing that Bella's admission was not medically necessary. And so it begins.
Bella is the kindest, sweetest, most determined little girl you could ever meet. She loves all things Disney, Harry Potter, puzzles, Legos, books, and babies. She enjoys spending time with her pets, two hairless rats (Luna and Hermione), a dog and cat (Sophie and Sheldon), and her two little brothers, Deacon and Gavin. Bella wants to be a preschool teacher when she grows up, and has always shown an amazing ability to relate to little children. She's always talking about all the fun things she will do with her own children one day when she's a mom.
Bella was so excited to start driver's ed and sing in her school's Christmas choir show, and to just hang out with all of her friends at school. It's hard to believe that in only a matter of days, she's gone from seemingly healthy, to being diagnosed with bone cancer. We are all so very thankful that throughout everything that has happened so far, Bella has not been in any pain associated with her cancer.
We want to thank you all for your prayers and support during this overwhelming and devastating time. Bella will win her battle, and live a long, fabulous life!













treatment of Bella's cancer, is that it will most likely make her infertile. Because Bella's cancer is localized, her doctors said that they would be comfortable delaying her chemo treatment for up to two and a half weeks, in order to give her the chance to freeze her eggs. The procedure costs up to $10,000 (with a yearly egg preservation fee of $760), and is not covered by insurance. Bella has always wanted to be a mother, and her parents want to make sure that she has the option to give birth to her own children.
As soon as Bella's eggs are extracted, she can start chemotherapy right away. Bella will have to go through about three months of chemotherapy before she can have bone surgery to remove her tumor. The doctors have said that they will do limb sparing surgery whenever possible. After that, she will need to go through six to nine months of additional chemotherapy to ensure that her cancer is completely gone. In addition, she will need extensive physical therapy to restore normal function to her arm and hand. My sister just got her first insurance claim denial for the day Bella was admitted to the hospital, citing that Bella's admission was not medically necessary. And so it begins.



Organizer
Michael Clonch
Organizer
Redlands, CA