Nicholas had been complaining of a sore knee for a couple of months leading up to his diagnosis. He was 10 years old in the winter of 2018, and an amazing downhill and terrain park skier. We chalked the sore knee up to teaching himself new tricks in the terrain park. We finally took him to the doctor when ski season was over and after he complained of not being able to run fast in gym class anymore.
Nicholas sustained a spinal cord injury during his double limb-sparing surgery in the summer of 2018. He has titanium bones in both legs, both knees are artificial, and he has a lot of nerve damage. He can walk for short distances but uses a wheelchair for longer distances and to prevent injury and exhaustion. Physically, he cannot do anything the same way he did before suffering from osteosarcoma.
Our family life is completely different from what it was before Nicholas’s diagnosis. We were a very active family who loved to travel and were constantly on the move. Nicholas’s cancer diagnosis, treatment, and disability changed all of that, but we do our best to adapt and make the best of the life we have now.
This was very hard at first, but Nicholas has embraced adaptive sports and our family life slowed down quite a bit. We’ve embraced a slower pace in our family life and haven’t looked back. We’re so grateful that Nicholas is alive and here to enjoy life with us. He’s beating the odds and we never forget this. We have two dogs now and spend more time together than we ever have. We love our post-cancer family life and are so grateful.
Nicholas is a miracle. He had a single-digit chance of survival at diagnosis and had tons of rare complications and setbacks during treatment. He is NED in his legs and stable, possibly NED in his lungs.
Hope session by Desiree Ortman Photography | Facebook | Instagram