High-Grade Osteosarcoma Bone Cancer, Stage 2B
Hi! I'm Kathlene Jacinto and I'm only 19 years old. Here's my story:
It was early last year when I got diagnosed with Stage 2B Osteosarcoma which is a rare type of bone cancer. It started when I was feeling pain in my right knee most of the time and there were times I couldn't walk properly because of it. A month or two passed, it still kept hurting so we decided to consult an Orthopedic already. After series of MRIs, X-rays and bone scan, they found a tumor in my knee, and my ortho surgeon said I had to undergo biopsy (core-needle biopsy) to know if the area was cancerous. Sadly, the result was cancer.
I had been recommended to see an Oncology to know about how I would be treated. He said I needed to have 17 rounds of chemotherapy for it to be completely gone but my body had been shutting down after around 6 cycles so he changed my protocol and decided to go with just 10 rounds of chemotherapy which ended last November 2018. I swear the side effects of chemo were really so so toxic that I would go back to the hospital after a week of being discharged due to either infections or low blood counts (always needed to transfuse like 3-4 bags of red blood or platelets). There were also times I wouldn’t eat for days/a week. My treatment protocol also needed surgery to permanently replace my bone with metal; it was done in between my chemos.
Unfortunately, this month of April 2019 we got a news that my cancer has spread.
On the first week of April, I had surgery for removal of "cyst" in my left lower quadrant abdomen. We decided to have it removed since it started to get bigger last February. My surgeon also said that it looked infected because my skin was already discolored. I also had UTI because of it.
April 11, it was my follow up check-up with my surgeon for my wound and for the pathology result of the surgery last April 04. The result was "Metastatic High-Grade Osteosarcoma, consistent with the patient's known primary" meaning my cancer has spread and it's bone cancer again. It also stated that another surgery is needed for wide exiscion in order to clean/remove the remaining tumor. We thought it was only a "cyst" but it turned out to be tumor and we weren't really expecting it because my chemotherapy was already agrressive and my PET/CT Scan also showed no more evidence of cancer; it was cleared.
We are now just waiting for the pathology result of the recent surgery. My oncologist requested for another PET/CT Scan to see if there are still any tumors left. It all depends on the pathology and PET/CT Scan if I need to undergo another chemotherapy session. Really hoping there's no more evidence of cancer..
I'd like to ask for help/donations for medical expenses like the PET/CT Scan (costs around 70-90k), check-ups and other possible procedures. My health insurance has already been maxed out. I'm still having physical therapy for my right knee and need more sessions to be cleared. And I'm also planning to go back to school this coming August. We haven't come back up from the last expenses; we already spent millions to get through everything. The surgery itself last year was already a million and some chemotherapies cost around 200-250k per session. Any amount would be gladly accepted! You could also message me for my bank account.
Thank you so much! God bless
Hi! I'm Kathlene Jacinto and I'm only 19 years old. Here's my story:
It was early last year when I got diagnosed with Stage 2B Osteosarcoma which is a rare type of bone cancer. It started when I was feeling pain in my right knee most of the time and there were times I couldn't walk properly because of it. A month or two passed, it still kept hurting so we decided to consult an Orthopedic already. After series of MRIs, X-rays and bone scan, they found a tumor in my knee, and my ortho surgeon said I had to undergo biopsy (core-needle biopsy) to know if the area was cancerous. Sadly, the result was cancer.
I had been recommended to see an Oncology to know about how I would be treated. He said I needed to have 17 rounds of chemotherapy for it to be completely gone but my body had been shutting down after around 6 cycles so he changed my protocol and decided to go with just 10 rounds of chemotherapy which ended last November 2018. I swear the side effects of chemo were really so so toxic that I would go back to the hospital after a week of being discharged due to either infections or low blood counts (always needed to transfuse like 3-4 bags of red blood or platelets). There were also times I wouldn’t eat for days/a week. My treatment protocol also needed surgery to permanently replace my bone with metal; it was done in between my chemos.
Unfortunately, this month of April 2019 we got a news that my cancer has spread.
On the first week of April, I had surgery for removal of "cyst" in my left lower quadrant abdomen. We decided to have it removed since it started to get bigger last February. My surgeon also said that it looked infected because my skin was already discolored. I also had UTI because of it.
April 11, it was my follow up check-up with my surgeon for my wound and for the pathology result of the surgery last April 04. The result was "Metastatic High-Grade Osteosarcoma, consistent with the patient's known primary" meaning my cancer has spread and it's bone cancer again. It also stated that another surgery is needed for wide exiscion in order to clean/remove the remaining tumor. We thought it was only a "cyst" but it turned out to be tumor and we weren't really expecting it because my chemotherapy was already agrressive and my PET/CT Scan also showed no more evidence of cancer; it was cleared.
We are now just waiting for the pathology result of the recent surgery. My oncologist requested for another PET/CT Scan to see if there are still any tumors left. It all depends on the pathology and PET/CT Scan if I need to undergo another chemotherapy session. Really hoping there's no more evidence of cancer..
I'd like to ask for help/donations for medical expenses like the PET/CT Scan (costs around 70-90k), check-ups and other possible procedures. My health insurance has already been maxed out. I'm still having physical therapy for my right knee and need more sessions to be cleared. And I'm also planning to go back to school this coming August. We haven't come back up from the last expenses; we already spent millions to get through everything. The surgery itself last year was already a million and some chemotherapies cost around 200-250k per session. Any amount would be gladly accepted! You could also message me for my bank account.
Thank you so much! God bless
Organizer and beneficiary
Maria Ortilla
Beneficiary