Funding for Tori's Art Of Hope
Donation protected
On August 1st my 13yr old daughter Victoria was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma. Her journey began when she found a bump on her right breast on the 15th of July. I took her to see her family doctor the same day. He thought it was just a benign mass, but referred us to the Center for Breast Health here in Davenport. Of course, she wasn't able to be seen til the 28th of July. At the Breast Center they did an ultrasound and confirmed it was not coming from her breast, but possibly her chest wall. We were then sent on the same day to get a CT of her chest area done. Instead of the usual go home and wait for the results, we were asked to wait around while the Radiologists looked over her CT. At that moment I knew something was seriously wrong! Her doctor called us in the waiting room and let us know it was coming from her rib region and we were being referred to a Thoracic surgeon at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital. The same day I received another call saying we could be seen in Iowa City the very next morning. I was shocked on how fast things were finally moving. The next morning we made the hour trip to the hospital and patiently waited for the doctor to come in. As soon as he came in and started small talk with Tori, I knew we were about to get some tough news. He preceded to tell us he was 99.9% sure she had Ewing's Sarcoma and we needed to get a biopsy done, a port put in, and a bone marrow biopsy also. The next day we made the long trip back to Iowa City so she could have surgery. Tori made it through the surgery just fine, but had a chest tube that gave her some problems for almost a week. On Friday August 1st her results of the biopsy came back confirming Ewing's Sarcoma. Her MRI, bone marrow, bone scan, and PET scan showed it had not spread anywhere else it is localized at her 5th rib and about the size of a baseball. She started her first set of chemo on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 5th and 6th. Her dad and I were finally able to take her home Wednesday night after a week long stay in the hospital. The whole family was so excited to see her! Tori's cancer is a very aggressive cancer that has to be treated aggressively. We will be making weekly trips to Iowa City for her chemo treatment for the next year. Some weeks just a day and some for a week at a time. Eventually, the goal is to shrink it enough to remove the tumor which she will also loose her 5th rib and parts of the 4th and 6th. Tori is a fighter with no plans on giving up!! As she puts it CANCER SUCKS!!
Organizer
Dawn Dunbar Vogel
Organizer
Davenport, IA