Zack was diagnosed for the first time with Ewing Sacroma in September 2014. Ewing Sacroma is cancer that occurs in the bones most commonly in children between the ages of 6-18. Symptoms can include bone pain and swelling. Treatment for Ewing Sacroma can include chemotherapy, radiation and even amputation. Zack went through chemotherapy and radiation. He was NED (no evidence of disease) as of June 2015.  He retuned to school and life!

In December 2015 he started to have rib pain. ER visits and scans showed nothing.  He continued to have pain in his ribs and new pain while sitting yet his scans showed nothing. In April 2016, the scans revealed tumors on rib number 7 and 10, both sides of his pelvis, and his left knee.  We were thrust back into active treatment. Zack had another port placement surgery so chemo could start again. He received chemo every 21 days for 5 days inpatient.  He had 6 more weeks of radiation and will continue chemo until the spring of 2017.  He has had two follow up scans since April and they are showing shrinking of the tumors.

Cancer changes your entire life…it now controls everything.  I recently lost my job due to running out of FMLA and unable to commit to days/hours due to the unknown.  Things can change so fast.  Everything can be totally fine and an hour later Zack could have a temperature and we will need to head right to the ER.  Zack is attending school online due to the fact of him being unable to go to school. If his counts are low he is suseptible to all germs.  A sniffle can turn into pneumonia, which means being admitted to hospital for IV antibiotics.  He is doing very well in the online school but misses his friends and the socialization.  We feel very fortunate to have been able to get photos taken because he hasn’t been able to have yearly school photos taken. No matter what Zack is going through he is always smiling! He has such a positive outlook and good attitude!