Hayden and family Cancer Fight
Donation protected
Cancer picked the wrong family to mess with.
I am a cancer survivor. My battle with cancer started in 2005 when I was first diagnosed with Breast Cancer at age 25. I went through chemo and radiation and surgery, raising my kids, studying and attending school between treatments. I fought. I won.
Then in 2008, I found out I was pregnant which was a miracle after all the treatments I had done, and the chemo drugs I was still taking. Unfortunately, I also soon found another lump in my breast. A biopsy showed it was more cancer. Because of the pregnancy, I had to wait months to have a mastectomy to remove the cancer, so it would be safest for the baby. The surgery went well. My youngest son, Hank, was born on April 22, 2009 via C-section. He was healthy and beautiful.
I had really bad back pain after Hank's birth, and had a routine ultrasound to make sure my kidneys were ok. The news we got was devastating: the cancer had spread all over my body. I had tumors in my abdomen, my liver, my lungs... everywhere. Two of my thoracic vertebrae had completely collapsed, eaten away by tumors. My right arm had a pathological humeral fracture from a huge tumor. I went through several hours of surgery to repair my back and have a titanium rod placed in my arm. The doctors hesitated to even give us guesses on how long I had to live, but it wasn't much.
I went through more radiation. I started chemo again. I fought every day for one more day to spend with my family. I had surgery to remove my ovaries and uterus because of tumors in them. The cancer spread to my brain and I had brain surgery to remove a tumor the size of a tangerine from my cerebellum, and then had a metal halo contraption screwed into my head so they could target radiation into the right spot in my brain. I still take chemo: pills every day and IV every three weeks. I've made my life's work beating cancer every day, and being the best mom and wife I can be. I am still going strong. I am not scared of cancer!
Around Thanksgiving of 2011, though, cancer did scare me. My son, Hayden, had a lump on his shin. It was soccer season, we didn't think much of it. But, when it didn't go away after a week, we decided to get it checked out. Our pediatrician sent us for X-rays; the results were the words that no parent ever wants to hear: "Your child has cancer." Hayden was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in his right tibia.
For a little over a year, we basically lived at Sutter Memorial hospital in Sacramento. Hayden had his right leg amputated through the knee. He underwent some of the worst chemo available to beat the cancer. He fought every day. He fought through the nausea and hair loss and all of the side effects of chemo. He fought to learn how to walk again. He is an amazing kid, and we couldn't be more proud of the way he handled himself through all of it. He was beating cancer, too!
Eventually, life started to go back to normal. Check-ups were more routine, and less frequent. No more white knuckles when waiting for lab or X-ray results. Hayden was learning to run and play sports again. We were back to being a normal family- making plans for the future, talking about vacations and sports and drivers licenses and a new house.
Right before Halloween 2014, Hayden started feeling really lousy. We called his doctors and went in for lab tests. Hayden said, "My biggest fear is that the cancer is back." We were back in the hospital that night. Hayden had developed Acute Myeloid Leukemia caused by the chemotherapy he went through to cure him of Osteosarcoma. We were in for another fight. The only course of treatment was more chemotherapy and then a Bone Marrow Transplant. We were back to living at Sutter Memorial hospital in Sacramento for chemo again.
We soon got some good news. The international bone marrow registry found a good match for Hayden, and the donor agreed to the dates for transplant. Thank God for the kindness of that young man somewhere in the U.K.! We are all looking forward to the day when we can meet him and thank him in person for what he did for us!
We came down to University of California at San Francisco on March 3rd to go through the transplant. After some pretty major complications and setbacks, Hayden finally had the bone marrow transplant on April 17, 2015- his new "re-birthday." He is doing really well, just coping with mucositis, painful swelling and sores in his mouth and throat that's very common in transplant patients. Hopefully it will clear up in a week to ten days. And hopefully, if the transplant grafts well, and his new immune system starts producing with no complications, he will be discharged from the hospital in another 4-6 weeks. We will have to stay in San Francisco for at least another 4-6 weeks, to go to outpatient clinic appointments after that.
But Hayden has proved that he's up for the fight, and we are here with him. Hayden has adapted really well to all of the adversities he has faced. He is still a kid, and at 14, he still has his moments. He'd rather play "Call of Duty" than do homework, and he has to be bugged to take his pills on time. But he has developed a remarkable sense of maturity, poise, confidence and empathy from everything he has gone through.
We appreciate all the support that we have gotten, as we continue to fight. We can't thank everyone enough for all of the help. We have had so many requests from family, friends and people in the community that want to help, that we decided to create this page for anyone who wanted to donate. There haven't been any huge medical bills, yet. And, thankfully, our insurance is good. But starting in May, we have to pay our entire insurance premiums, on top of all of the travel costs and lost income from missed work. Thanks to everyone for all the help, and keep us in your prayers, as we continue to fight!
I am a cancer survivor. My battle with cancer started in 2005 when I was first diagnosed with Breast Cancer at age 25. I went through chemo and radiation and surgery, raising my kids, studying and attending school between treatments. I fought. I won.
Then in 2008, I found out I was pregnant which was a miracle after all the treatments I had done, and the chemo drugs I was still taking. Unfortunately, I also soon found another lump in my breast. A biopsy showed it was more cancer. Because of the pregnancy, I had to wait months to have a mastectomy to remove the cancer, so it would be safest for the baby. The surgery went well. My youngest son, Hank, was born on April 22, 2009 via C-section. He was healthy and beautiful.
I had really bad back pain after Hank's birth, and had a routine ultrasound to make sure my kidneys were ok. The news we got was devastating: the cancer had spread all over my body. I had tumors in my abdomen, my liver, my lungs... everywhere. Two of my thoracic vertebrae had completely collapsed, eaten away by tumors. My right arm had a pathological humeral fracture from a huge tumor. I went through several hours of surgery to repair my back and have a titanium rod placed in my arm. The doctors hesitated to even give us guesses on how long I had to live, but it wasn't much.
I went through more radiation. I started chemo again. I fought every day for one more day to spend with my family. I had surgery to remove my ovaries and uterus because of tumors in them. The cancer spread to my brain and I had brain surgery to remove a tumor the size of a tangerine from my cerebellum, and then had a metal halo contraption screwed into my head so they could target radiation into the right spot in my brain. I still take chemo: pills every day and IV every three weeks. I've made my life's work beating cancer every day, and being the best mom and wife I can be. I am still going strong. I am not scared of cancer!
Around Thanksgiving of 2011, though, cancer did scare me. My son, Hayden, had a lump on his shin. It was soccer season, we didn't think much of it. But, when it didn't go away after a week, we decided to get it checked out. Our pediatrician sent us for X-rays; the results were the words that no parent ever wants to hear: "Your child has cancer." Hayden was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in his right tibia.
For a little over a year, we basically lived at Sutter Memorial hospital in Sacramento. Hayden had his right leg amputated through the knee. He underwent some of the worst chemo available to beat the cancer. He fought every day. He fought through the nausea and hair loss and all of the side effects of chemo. He fought to learn how to walk again. He is an amazing kid, and we couldn't be more proud of the way he handled himself through all of it. He was beating cancer, too!
Eventually, life started to go back to normal. Check-ups were more routine, and less frequent. No more white knuckles when waiting for lab or X-ray results. Hayden was learning to run and play sports again. We were back to being a normal family- making plans for the future, talking about vacations and sports and drivers licenses and a new house.
Right before Halloween 2014, Hayden started feeling really lousy. We called his doctors and went in for lab tests. Hayden said, "My biggest fear is that the cancer is back." We were back in the hospital that night. Hayden had developed Acute Myeloid Leukemia caused by the chemotherapy he went through to cure him of Osteosarcoma. We were in for another fight. The only course of treatment was more chemotherapy and then a Bone Marrow Transplant. We were back to living at Sutter Memorial hospital in Sacramento for chemo again.
We soon got some good news. The international bone marrow registry found a good match for Hayden, and the donor agreed to the dates for transplant. Thank God for the kindness of that young man somewhere in the U.K.! We are all looking forward to the day when we can meet him and thank him in person for what he did for us!
We came down to University of California at San Francisco on March 3rd to go through the transplant. After some pretty major complications and setbacks, Hayden finally had the bone marrow transplant on April 17, 2015- his new "re-birthday." He is doing really well, just coping with mucositis, painful swelling and sores in his mouth and throat that's very common in transplant patients. Hopefully it will clear up in a week to ten days. And hopefully, if the transplant grafts well, and his new immune system starts producing with no complications, he will be discharged from the hospital in another 4-6 weeks. We will have to stay in San Francisco for at least another 4-6 weeks, to go to outpatient clinic appointments after that.
But Hayden has proved that he's up for the fight, and we are here with him. Hayden has adapted really well to all of the adversities he has faced. He is still a kid, and at 14, he still has his moments. He'd rather play "Call of Duty" than do homework, and he has to be bugged to take his pills on time. But he has developed a remarkable sense of maturity, poise, confidence and empathy from everything he has gone through.
We appreciate all the support that we have gotten, as we continue to fight. We can't thank everyone enough for all of the help. We have had so many requests from family, friends and people in the community that want to help, that we decided to create this page for anyone who wanted to donate. There haven't been any huge medical bills, yet. And, thankfully, our insurance is good. But starting in May, we have to pay our entire insurance premiums, on top of all of the travel costs and lost income from missed work. Thanks to everyone for all the help, and keep us in your prayers, as we continue to fight!
Organizer
Megan Handy Tenaglio
Organizer
Frenchtown, CA
