Support Rebecca's Battle Against Osteosarcoma

On June 1st, Rebecca and I were walking around at Jungle Jim’s and Rebecca asked to head home as her leg hurt. She thought she might have gotten hurt playing catch the flag or just dance during the last week of school. We went home and treated it as a possible sprain. On Wednesday, June 5th, we got rained out of our Girl Scout Bridging Ceremony, and thought we should get her leg checked out for a possible hairline fracture as the swelling was still there (not a lot), the pain was ebbing and her leg was warm to the touch. We initially went to Ortho Indy, but it was too close to their close time for them to see her, so off to Riley ER we went. The X-ray showed a leison on her right tibia. They admitted us to be able to get an MRI in the morning. MRI confirmed that what they saw was bone cancer. They told us and Rebecca began vomiting she was so nervous. 4 mg of Ativan were given, so when she got the CT scan she was looking for frogs in the machine. We were able to take Rebecca home with her visual hallucinations and she was able to sleep at home. On June 12th, she had a biopsy on her right tibia. We got confirmation of Osteosarcoma when we met with Riley’s Dr. Just on June 25th. We learned about the treatment plan, MAP chemo for 2 to 3 cycles, the limb sparing surgery on her right tibia, then 2 more rounds of MAP chemotherapy or IE chemotherapy if MAP is not working as well as they want. We went to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to talk with Dr. Plessy to get a 2nd opinion. Treatment protocols were pretty much the same if not a little more aggressive to determine if what was seen in the CT scan was Osteosarcoma or the Histplasmosis that all of us in the Midwest have. Rebecca decided that she felt more comfortable receiving treatment at Riley. (She has had 2 surgeries there already) so we will go for a PET scan on July 8th and port placement and chemotherapy start on July 10. The results of the PET scan were shocking and devastating. They found mor lesions on her left femur and left pelvis. So in addition to port placement and starting chemotherapy on July 10th we had another biopsy. We anticipate results in 2 weeks. Cincinnati tumor program is communicating with Riley’s and we are checking regarding the surgeons that are available. I appreciate all the things friends have done so far- helping changing out her loft bed for a full size bed and desk, sending Rebecca gifts, walking the dogs and helping to organize all the help. This is a long journey that we were not anticipating, we will be required to meet our out of pocket maximum this year and next year as we work to fight this aggressive cancer. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!