Support Beck Jacobsen's Care & Recovery

At the end of January, Beck was riding the bus home from school when his friend pushed him against the window in his seat. He felt something pop in his arm and was in quite a bit of pain. After a quick trip to the ER, an X-ray confirmed he had a break in his upper left humerus.  A week later, the orthopedist determined that he had a bone cyst that had weakened the bone, leading to the break. Typically most bone cysts are benign but Beck had been complaining about arm pain prior to the break, so the doctors wanted to monitor the bone as it healed to determine if any further action was necessary. After several weeks and multiple appointments and x-rays, his ortho doctors were concerned about what they were seeing, as the bone was not healing correctly and looked abnormal in his x-rays. At this point, Beck was referred to OHSU.

On Monday, March 28th, Beck had an MRI and a consultation with the orthopedic oncology department at OHSU. Based on the images they were seeing, the doctors suspected that he might have a malignant tumor. The next day, Beck went in for surgery so a biopsy could be conducted; the results of that confirmed that he has osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. After his diagnosis, several appointments and scans were scheduled to determine the extent of cancer and to decide the next steps. Beck will start three months of chemotherapy on Tuesday, April 5th, at which point his doctors will remove the tumor and perform reconstructive surgery on his arm, followed by three additional months of chemotherapy.

What will these funds be used for?
While the expectation is that insurance will cover a significant portion of Beck's treatment, there will still be a fair amount of co-insurance and out-of-pocket costs. In addition to medical expenses, the everyday costs associated with being in and out of the hospital for such a long period are going to rack up. Depending on how the treatment goes, Beck's parents may have to take time away from working to fully support his recovery.