Help Brad & Kylea Fight Osteosarcoma
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My best friend, Kylea, recently found out that the love of her life, Brad, has cancer. These two have been in each other's lives since the 4th grade, dated since high school, and have been married for the last 5 years, and I can't imagine two people more meant for each other.
Brad had a small bump beneath his right knee for at least 10 years, but it was always written off as a calcium deposit. Within the past six to eight months however, it began growing at a rapid pace, eventually becoming about the size of a baseball. After an attempt by his regular physician to drain it with a needle, X-rays, and an MRI, they received the news that it appeared to be a cancerous lesion known as chondrosarcoma.
Brad had surgery to remove the tumor and the affected skin, tissue, and bone on April 26. During this long operation, he received a piece of donor bone and had the tendon reattached, and then a flap of muscle from his calf was moved over the bone graft, and then covered with a skin graft from his thigh. In the following weeks, the wound became infected and part of the muscle flap and skin graft died. The wound had to be surgically cleaned, he was put on an antibiotic, and he was sent home with a wound vac to aid in the healing. Under the assumption that the tumor was chondrosarcoma, the surgery was supposed to have rid him of the problem, though he would have had to have periodic X-rays to be sure. While in the hospital for the cleaning, they were told the tumor was odd enough that, despite its initial confirmation of chondrosarcoma and low grade of aggressiveness, it was sent to another lab in a different state to be tested. They found out days later that the diagnosis had been changed. The tumor was decided to be osteosarcoma instead, and the grade of aggressiveness was raised to high. This changed everything.
Brad had a chest CT scan and a full nuclear scan of his bones. They met with a chemotherapy doctor and his initial look at the CT scan didn't concern him, so he explained a six to eight month plan of chemotherapy and stressed that osteosarcoma is curable. He was positive and said Brad has an 80% chance of being alive in five years.Thursday, they were called back to OKC to speak with the same chemotherapy doctor. The bone scan showed no new lesions, but the CT scan of his lungs revealed tiny nodules that, while they cannot be tested and proven to be cancer at this point, the chemotherapy doctor believes that is the most likely scenario. He said Brad's chances go down if the nodules in his lungs are in fact cancer, but wouldn't give specific statistics, as every person is different. The messages were conflicting, but if it reaches a certain point, it's no longer curable.
Brad was admitted as an inpatient Thursday afternoon, and began chemotherapy Friday night, marking the beginning of a long, harsh, rigorous treatment which will occupy most of their time and energy for the forseeable future.
I know beyond the physical and emotional toll, there will be large financial burdens. I want to do as much as I can to help ease these burdens. In addition to the medical bills themselves, I know travel and missed work will only make it harder to keep up with the day to day expenses, so every little bit helps.
I can't imagine two people who deserve the help more than these two, and I appreciate anything anyone can provide to help them.
Brad had a small bump beneath his right knee for at least 10 years, but it was always written off as a calcium deposit. Within the past six to eight months however, it began growing at a rapid pace, eventually becoming about the size of a baseball. After an attempt by his regular physician to drain it with a needle, X-rays, and an MRI, they received the news that it appeared to be a cancerous lesion known as chondrosarcoma.
Brad had surgery to remove the tumor and the affected skin, tissue, and bone on April 26. During this long operation, he received a piece of donor bone and had the tendon reattached, and then a flap of muscle from his calf was moved over the bone graft, and then covered with a skin graft from his thigh. In the following weeks, the wound became infected and part of the muscle flap and skin graft died. The wound had to be surgically cleaned, he was put on an antibiotic, and he was sent home with a wound vac to aid in the healing. Under the assumption that the tumor was chondrosarcoma, the surgery was supposed to have rid him of the problem, though he would have had to have periodic X-rays to be sure. While in the hospital for the cleaning, they were told the tumor was odd enough that, despite its initial confirmation of chondrosarcoma and low grade of aggressiveness, it was sent to another lab in a different state to be tested. They found out days later that the diagnosis had been changed. The tumor was decided to be osteosarcoma instead, and the grade of aggressiveness was raised to high. This changed everything.
Brad had a chest CT scan and a full nuclear scan of his bones. They met with a chemotherapy doctor and his initial look at the CT scan didn't concern him, so he explained a six to eight month plan of chemotherapy and stressed that osteosarcoma is curable. He was positive and said Brad has an 80% chance of being alive in five years.Thursday, they were called back to OKC to speak with the same chemotherapy doctor. The bone scan showed no new lesions, but the CT scan of his lungs revealed tiny nodules that, while they cannot be tested and proven to be cancer at this point, the chemotherapy doctor believes that is the most likely scenario. He said Brad's chances go down if the nodules in his lungs are in fact cancer, but wouldn't give specific statistics, as every person is different. The messages were conflicting, but if it reaches a certain point, it's no longer curable.
Brad was admitted as an inpatient Thursday afternoon, and began chemotherapy Friday night, marking the beginning of a long, harsh, rigorous treatment which will occupy most of their time and energy for the forseeable future.
I know beyond the physical and emotional toll, there will be large financial burdens. I want to do as much as I can to help ease these burdens. In addition to the medical bills themselves, I know travel and missed work will only make it harder to keep up with the day to day expenses, so every little bit helps.
I can't imagine two people who deserve the help more than these two, and I appreciate anything anyone can provide to help them.
Organizer and beneficiary
Amber Robertson
Organizer
Wichita, KS
Kylea Amerin
Beneficiary