Sydney Reed Fights Ewing's Sarcoma
My Name is Kim and I am a friend of Deborah Corcoran, mom to 14-year-old Sydney Reed. Deborah and Sydney live in Morgan County, Indiana. Johnson and Morgan Counties have a well-documented history of astronomical numbers of rare childhood cancer diagnoses, "cancer clusters", that have been deemed caused by "environmental" factors. These counties have documented groundwater contamination, Superfund cleanup plans that were never followed-through upon, and an ongoing fight continues between the families and Indiana Department of Health, IDEM (Environmental Management) and the government. WTHR Channel 13 has been following and reporting this story for quite some time.
Sydney is the latest victim.
For quite some time Sydney has been suffering from a tumor on her spinal cord. The pain eventually became unbearable with long days and even longer sleepless nights enduring unimaginable pain that no child should have to feel. Doctors repeatedly told Sydney and her mother that she didn't have anything seriously wrong with her, implied that she was overweight (!!! really?!?), anything except digging in to find the true source of this child's pain. Deborah refused to give up, she fought for 2nd and 3rd opinions and, eventually, with the help of a neurologist who finally took them seriously, Sydney was immediately transferred to Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis for surgery and treatment.
They immediately booked her for surgery to remove the tumor, of which they were able to remove most, but not before it burst. Then...the wait for pathology began. Was it cancer or simply a benign tumor?
The answer wasn't what anyone wanted to hear. Not only did Sydney have bone cancer, she was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma in the spine, an extremely RARE cancer presentment that affects 1 in 1,000,000 (that's a million). Further complicating things, when Sydney's tumor burst it sent millions of cancer cells all throughout her body. As if things didn't need to be more complicated, Sydney's ES is presenting in a way the doctors at Riley hospital have never seen. No one has ever seen Ewing's Sarcoma IN the spine before. No one.
Let me repeat that. The doctors at Riley hospital have never seen/treated Ewing's Sarcoma presented in this way. They don't have clear guidelines on how to treat Sydney.
Ewing's Sarcoma typically attacks long bones and soft tissue, not the spine. It often moves to other parts of the body (metastasis). So far, Sydney's cancer is localized to her spinal cord but she will have to endure some pretty intense treatment. They have started her first 12-week round of chemo and then she will have to have radiation on her spine and brain. Sydney had her hair cut and colored with some purple in it the other day. She wanted something "fun" before it all started to fall out...
This is where you come in. The treatment will be long and very, very expensive. One shot Sydney had to take prior to starting chemo cost $6000. ONE. SHOT. She will need another at the end of chemo. That's $12,000 just for two shots. Her total cost of treatment will be very well into 6 figures.
Deborah is a single mother to 4 children and owns her own small business. Right now, she is faced with hard decisions regarding her dream business, a flower shop; Does she close to be with Sydney all the time? Hire someone (which would be hard financially on a fledgling business), or does she sell and just to let it go, leaving her with no income?
Their need is two-fold: 1) To help pay for Sydney's medical bills and the financial strain it puts on the family, and 2) How to save the business while allowing Deborah to be with Sydney throughout her treatment.
These funds are needed right away. They have been dealing with this for some time, but now they have a diagnosis and an idea of what they're up against, the panic level has risen to DEFCON 1!
Deborah is not a person who would ask for this type of help. She's strong, independent, fiercely loves her children and is a beautiful soul. Sydney exhibits the same characteristics as her Mom. She is bright, beautiful and funny, even cracking jokes through the pain. She's a special soul and I believe in my heart she can fight this terrible diagnosis/disease and become not only a role model and mentor to other kids but her treatment could pave the way for new and effective ways to treat Ewing's Sarcoma. She needs to have every opportunity in the world to fight this and will need us to back her, both emotionally but also financially. Please help us help this young woman and her family. It's cases like these that make the medical journals and we need to make sure she doesn't lose ANY opportunity to beat the bone cancer that is ravaging Sydney's body. You can find out more on "Sydney Reed's Battle" Facebook page.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read their story and we appreciate anything you can do. If you can't give, please share with as many people as you can.
Other ways you can help - pick up the phone, start petitions and write letters!
One voice needs to become a mighty roar that cannot be ignored!
Johnson County Dept of Health [phone redacted]
Morgan County Dept of Health Environmental Division [phone redacted]
Recent News Article: http://www.wthr.com/story/30634941/state-health-leaders-no-cancer-cluster-in-johnson-county#.Vl0t518bbQE.facebook
Johnson County State Rep. Todd Young: [phone redacted] | D.C. Office [phone redacted]
Madison County State Rep Peggy Mayfield: [phone redacted]
Also include:
Morgan County State Rep. L. Jack Lutz: [phone redacted]
Jack Lutz is on the Environmental Affairs Committee. He needs to be BLASTED with emails, phone calls and on social media so that it becomes impossible for him to ignore us.
