Pete Goodbar Cancer Battle

My dad, Pete Goodbar who we all know to be a very rough and tough guy from his voice to his shoes and one who never complains about aches and pains started having a pain in his left leg above his knee. He later found a knot and just thought it was a pulled muscle or bruise that he thought would just eventually go away like It always had in the past. The pain became so debilitating it forced my dad to go to the doctor which for his family is like trying to sell salt to a snail, impossible. The Doctors went back and forth because they couldn’t figure out what the problem was. They even gave him a cortisone shot to try to alleviate the pain. Nothing was working so the X-rays, MRIs and blood tests began until a specialist finally detected that my dad had an osteo-sarcoma (tumor) in his left femur which had grown from the middle of the bone outward and compromised the bone so much that the bone finally broke. My dad had a surgery planned at VCU where they determined that it was a VERY rare case of primary osteosarcoma which is a growing bone disease normally found in children. The good news was that there was no more cancer in my dads body just his leg. However, the only medical option VCU offered was amputation of my dads leg from the hip down which would have been a significant life altering surgery for a man that has survived by staying on his feet and his physical abilities. We reached out to Duke University that has a clinic devoted to sarcoma cancer and specializes in limb-sparing surgical techniques. They took my dad in as a patient and deemed him a good candidate for this type of surgery. We are so very grateful for this opportunity and this option for my dad and are very hopeful for a successful surgery and quick recovery. It has been a long bumpy road with my dad in the bed and a wheelchair with a broken leg and enduring aggressive chemotherapy for the last 5 months and my moms undivided attention and devotion to helping my helpless dad in his time of need. The journey is far from over along with hospital visits and bills however we are so blessed for it being a curable cancer and my dads optimistic and motivated attitude to beat cancer and take back what it has taken from him.