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Victors Stories: Patient Stories

Eddie

Last summer, Cathy asked her 16-year-old son Eddie to mow the lawn. When he complained that pulling the cord to start the lawn mower hurt his shoulder, she chalked it up as a teenage ploy to get out of doing his chores.

But when he continued to have pain on and off, she took Eddie to his doctor. Though no problems seemed apparent during the office visit, the doctor sent Eddie to see an orthopedic specialist. The specialist ordered an X-ray, saw Eddie's scoliosis, and thought the pain was caused by this. Then in February 2005, Cathy received a phone call that changed their lives - the radiologist found something on Eddie's back rib under his shoulder blade and thought it could be cancer.

A bone scan and CT scan confirmed their worst fear. Eddie had osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. It was an unusual case because osteosarcoma is usually found in the legs, not the ribs.

Cathy said that this was when the U-M nursing staff was at their best. "They know you are scared, and this is all new to you," she said. "They take the time to answer all your questions even if they are busy. They give lots of encouragement."

Eddie's Treatment

Eddie's tumor was quite large, measuring 16 cm (six inches) wide. It was on the ribs right under his shoulder blade, and it pushed his lungs against his spinal cord, causing his spinal cord to curve - which explained the origins of his scoliosis.

Eddie had six courses of chemotherapy to reduce the tumor before he underwent extensive surgery to remove it. The eight-hour surgery involved removing one total rib, parts of four other ribs, and a small section of his lungs.

His U-M surgical team used mesh to "fake" the missing pieces of his third, fourth and fifth ribs. However, the top two ribs couldn't be secured, so Eddie will always have a slight depression in his chest.

Eddie was prescribed 12 more courses of chemo after surgery to blast any remaining cancer cells. His family and his medical team at U-M are optimistic that after the rest of his treatments Eddie will come out on top.

A Normal Teenage

At first, Eddie didn't want anyone to know he had cancer because he didn't want to be treated differently. Even while he continues his chemo, Eddie looks for opportunities to act like any other teen.

His mom Cathy explained, "He's a normal 16-year-old, and he has his license. When his immunity is up, he goes driving."

On a recent trip to an amusement park, he absolutely refused to get a wheelchair or a motorized scooter. Cathy said, "He just wanted to look normal and be normal."

A U-M art therapist put Eddie's spirit to good use by asking him to make a documentary of the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center. "He interviewed doctors, nurses, even people in admitting," Cathy said. "But he won't work on it while I'm around because I'm his mom."

And that's just what you would expect from a typical teenage boy.

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