Welcome to Champ's support page, created for Elijah Nix who was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Ewing's Sarcoma. The purpose of this is to be informative, as well as to be an organized connection point for those interested in partnering with us by supporting in some way.
STORY
In May of this year, our son Elijah (16), reported occasional pain in his leg sleeping overnight. At first, we thought it might be growing pains since he's been growing 6 inches/year for the last 2 years at least, but it proved to be more than that. We took him to a doctor in June, who suspected a possible sports-injury-related stress fracture and ordered an MRI. The preliminary result of the MRI was a "flesh sarcoma" likely cancerous, mandating a biopsy to be scheduled ASAP. We received a referral to Children's Mercy Hospital in KC, MO.
The biopsy was scheduled for Monday, July 10. Afterward, the surgeon explained to the preliminary results based on physical and visual inspection didn't look good. "Lots of blue cells," he said, "appears to be some form of cancer, likely 1 of 3 possible types, the pathology labs will confirm exactly what type it is, but most likely cancer." He informed us with pain visible in his eyes. The report from the biopsy came that same week confirming "Ewing's Sarcoma".
Ewing's Sarcoma is extremely rare, affecting fewer than 1,000 US cases per year.
A follow-up appointment for a PET scan and CT scan of his chest was scheduled for Wednesday, July 19 to confirm how localized the cancer was. The good news was the PET scan didn't reveal any other large growths outside of the one we already knew about in his right leg. The bad news was that the CT scan was able to pick up a total of four smaller growths, two in each lung, all sized just 2-5mm. Learned the reason for the CT scan is because the PET scan can't pick up smaller growths like that.
Our oncologist informed us because the cancer has progressed to the lungs it is classified as Stage 4, and gave just a 50/50 shot of beating this thing.
From the beginning, we felt led to lean in to hear what the Lord has to say about all of this, starting with the preliminary diagnosis towards the end of June. Early on, doing some Immanuel journaling, the Lord specifically encouraged me by saying "My calling and my destiny over Elijah is strong, and this will not stop it".
Also early on, we responded to this health challenge by proceeding with the traditional medical route, combined with a natural health and nutritional wellness approach. We have heard some positive testimonies about how combining these strategies can increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy and possibly reduce the harmful effects of it.
Elijah has already begun chemotherapy, he just finished his second treatment today (Sunday 8/13). The general plan is for him to receive treatment every other week for the next 8 months or so. The exact schedule of course is also determined by how his body responds to chemo and his bloodwork has to be right each week in order to progress to the next stage of treatment. Different stages have different schedules of meds and everything fun like that, so there's never a dull moment.
One prayer point revolves around his right leg, where the largest tumor is on his right shin between the tibia and fibula. The protocol would have them surgically remove the tumor roughly 90 days into treatment, he's already almost a month in. Amputation below the right knee is recommended. There are different options, but the recommendation is for a prosthetic due to needing to cut away so much bone, muscle, and tendons during the tumor removal. If there was a way for him to be able to keep his leg, yes of course we'd like for him to be able to keep it. If losing his right foot is what it takes to keep him with us, I can see the upside of that.
We are blessed to have close friends and church family (shout out to #RockTribe) in the Kansas City area who have already blessed us with current and future guarantees of hospitality as needed. Children's Mercy has accommodations for one parent to stay with the child during treatment overnights, allowing Jerrica to accompany Elijah for treatments while I hold the fort down in Bolivar and keep the NextGen wheels turning.
Several of you have already reached out looking for ways that you can help support or get involved in some way.
Dayspring is opening a benevolence fund to support those of you who might wish to give to the cause and receive a tax-deductible donation slip. Options to give online include text-to-give, in addition to more traditional means.
You can read below for more details of our journey and more ways you can be supportive during this time.
Prayer Requests
We are persevering in prayer for the Lord to release divine healing and for Him to rebuke any spirit of infirmity at work, commanding cancer in his body to die and declaring LIFE over Elijah. We have heard testimonials of partial healing, and of God protecting people from the harmful effects of chemotherapy through the process. We are trying our best to submit ourselves to the will of Lord and asking for ears to hear what He may have to say to us through it all. Trusting that what the enemy means for evil through this that God will use for good, I don't want a bit of the pain to be wasted on us.
We are praying supernatural protection for Elijah, that chemo will kill the cancer but not have any negative adverse effects on his body currently or long term.
We are believing that Elijah will be able to keep his leg.
We are praying that the Lord would continually supply the grace and the strength for us, so that we are able to stand. Pray against discouragement, proclaim Hope and Joy and SHALOM over our family. Pray that the Lord would give us the grace to preserve in believing prayer, even when our hope for healing is deferred. Pray for a supernatural gift of FAITH to call the things that are not as though they are. To see the facts but declare God's higher truth. Lord if it is possible, let this cup pass from me - nevertheless, your will be done. Pray that the Lord would lift up a standard against the enemy.
How to Partner/Support
You can visit our Facebook Page "Champ's Support Group" and/or our site at CaringBridge “Champs’s Support Group” for details.
We are blessed in that health insurance coverage is not an issue. We are blessed with generous hospitality in KC. At the same time, we are looking at significantly increased expenses associated with food and travel, and all of the special foods, supplements, and specific diet plans we have him on to give his body every possible chance for success. Dayspring Church has offered tax deductible donation options through the website at dayspring.life, select “give” through “push pay” and add “Nix Family donation”, in the memo.
What does the schedule look like?
The treatment plan in general will be to stagger chemo treatments roughly every other week giving his body time to recover in-between treatments, with some of the treatment periods being longer, possibly 5-6 days in a row (one week on, one week off), depending on how much his body can take it.
We are thankful he is able to do his labs in Bolivar at CMH every Monday & Thursday, then just go back to KC to Children’s Mercy, to be admitted for chemo when he’s body can. His blood counts have to be above 700 in order to do so. For all you science nerds out there, normal counts would be in the thousands.
So needless to say, our schedule will never be definite. It’s all based on his counts, which will change indefinitely.
How we are handling this as a family
To say that this has been a challenging time for our family would be an understatement. Of course, Jerrica has stepped up to the plate as "supermom" as Elijah's primary caretaker, overseeing the administration of his (many) meds, schedule, and nutrition.
The Lord has spoken LIFE over Elijah in this situation, speaking "He will live".
The emotions associated with this have come in waves, much like the various stages of results and discoveries along the way. We have gone through intense periods of grief, despair, and dismay.
Now, more than ever, we cannot afford to get our peace from our circumstances. This is not a time to trust our feelings. This is an example of a time when we must allow God's word, His higher truth to override what our feelings and circumstances are telling us. This kind of shaking will shake everything that can be shaken. If our internal compass is in ANYTHING outside of Christ, our compass reading is going to be WHACKED over the next year. We have to place our compass in Him.
We have surrendered to cooperate with the Lord in this process, and believe the Lord will use this process to move our internal compasses where they should be. We hold fast to what we know about the character and nature of God, namely that He is good. He is for us, and not against us.
A Special Thank You to Rock Tribe, Dayspring, Friends, & Family
I continue to be encouraged by the analogy of the buffalo on the high plains of the wild west, and how they react to storms in comparison to domestic cattle. Cattle will run from the storm, they will get wide-eyed and trample each other and destroy fences in a panic often hurting themselves in the process. But buffalo react differently, they intentionally turn and face the storm together as a group. The strongest get in front and form a line and provide shelter to some perhaps of the weak behind them. The blizzards up in Yellowstone can last for days, but they stick it out. When the ones in front get cold and tired they'll fall back and a fresh set of legs will fill the gap. What a beautiful testimony of the strategic strength of the Lord imbedded in his creation.
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