Welcome to Anna's CaringBridge Page! Every so often, updates will be posted in the journal. If you would like to leave Anna a message, please feel free to post in the Guestbook, and we will be sure she gets the message. Thank you!
Anna is a 24 year old student studying Early Childhood Education at Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio, who was diagnosed with pediatric onset osteosarcoma (bone cancer) on 3/28/2011. The tumor was in the lower half of her left femur, just above the knee. She went through eight months of aggressive chemotherapy treatments from April through November, 2011, with surgery in June to remove the tumor. It was called a 'leg salvage' operation, and they replaced the lower femur with titanium and joined it to an artificial knee. A lot of very painful physical therapy was included in the mix.
Fast forward to December, 2012, the day after Christmas, and Anna goes to Children's Hospital for her normal three-month check-up consisting of a series of scans and tests to make sure everything is as it should be. Two very faint spots behind the left knee, which were first noticed in September, but were so faint as to be almost invisible, have grown somewhat brighter on the scan. They look to be in the vein that runs up the back of her leg, behind the knee, and could be nothing more than blood clots left over from surgery when the vein was clamped off. But they warrant a closer watch, and she goes to monthly check-ups instead of every three months.
In January, the spots are brighter. And in February, brighter still.
On February 22, 2013, Anna had a vein resection to remove the area containing the spots. When the analysis came back from pathology on the 25th, it was confirmed that the spots were, indeed, malignant and that it was a recurrence of the osteosarcoma. Also, due to the nature of how the tumors were growing, there was no way to be certain that the surgery was successful in removing it all. In addition, because the tumors were inside the vein, blood had been flowing over and around them for the last six months.
At this point, Anna's team of doctors recommended going to the next level of care, and on March 8, 2013, Anna had surgery to amputate her left leg above the knee, roughly to the point where her prosthetic bone ends and the remainder of her natural femur begins. Two weeks after that, she began a new round of chemotherapy that is anticipated to last roughly five months (six three-week cycles).
We will resume posting updates to Anna's CaringBridge site so that we can keep friends and family all around the country informed of her progress, just as we did before. Please keep her, and all of us, in your thoughts and prayers as we battle this very ugly disease.
Hello everyone. Wanted to provide one last small update before the end of the year! Anna has been doing well. Her leg is feeling much better. As such, she will not be getting surgery to remove the broken bone, it will just remain in her leg. Her heart functions have also improved slightly (from 42 to 52) but she will be doing some cardio rehab to see if she can continue to improve and increase her stamina. Ace continues to be a little menace but he absolutely adores Anna and she adores him just as much. We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
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