Ewing's Sarcoma: Sarah Campbell's Battle
"She had a lot of determination"
At age 9, Sarah was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a form of bone cancer that was in her right leg. For the next six years, Sarah battled the cancer with a strong determination. She underwent endless treatments including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, bone replacement surgery, and eventually a leg amputation. Today, Sarah is a cancer-free, happy teenager, and she hopes to enroll in a nursing program after high school.
In November 1995, Sarah Campbell began experiencing severe pain in her right leg and knee. Six months later, when she was just 9 years old, she was sent to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Her family found out she had Ewing's sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. At 6 inches long and in the shape of an ice cream cone, Sarah's tumor wrapped entirely around her right knee.
For the next six years, Sarah battled her cancer with a strong determination. Amputation was suggested right away, but Sarah's parents wanted to do what they could to save her leg. She immediately began chemotherapy treatments to destroy and shrink the tumor cells. She also underwent radiation therapy to further damage the cancer cells. A bone replacement surgery took bone from her left leg and put it into her right leg. She spent the next several months in a wheelchair with a cast on each leg.
Trips to Cincinnati Children's were constant. Numerous appointments were scheduled for CT scans, MRIs, bone scans, leg X-rays, heart echocardiograms and physical therapy. "At one point she was home only two weeks out of four months," says her mom Lori Teegarden. "I had to take it one day at a time, one hour at a time."
Good News: Remission
On a happy day in July 1997, Sarah was told she was in remission. She had been in a wheelchair since the previous Christmas, unable to put weight on her leg. Three months later, Sarah learned to walk again. She and her family -- now consisting of two sets of parents, six siblings and several grandparents -- celebrated.
Unfortunately, in May 1999 an infection set in where the radiation treatments had weakened Sarah's right knee bone. She had been wearing a leg brace, which only slightly limited her mobility. Now she had to face the upcoming summer with her leg back in a full cast.
Sarah wasn't able to go swimming, roller skate or ride her bike. But she refused to miss out on the fun. Instead, she scooted around after her siblings using her arms. She also occupied herself by working on craft projects, including painting and jewelry making. "Sarah would decorate her room with paintings and then give them as gifts to people who would visit her," her mom says.
Another Setback
Things were looking up until February 2001 when Sarah's leg broke where the infection had been. Her doctors suggested a bone stimulator to help the bone grow back. Another set of treatments began.
Nine months later, Sarah and her mom learned the bone stimulator wasn't working. The doctors again suggested amputation. Sarah was 15 years old at the time.
Sarah and her parents made the agonizing decision together. Sarah was tired of endless doctor appointments. She decided she was ready -- she wanted her leg amputated above the knee. "She had a lot of determination," Lori says. "I don't know if I could have done it."
In April of 2002, Sarah had her amputation surgery. She was fitted with a prosthesis while in the hospital, and she woke up with a new leg. She painted her new toe nails as soon as she got home. But Sarah's struggles were not yet over. She experienced ghost pain in her amputated leg. And -- for the third time in her life -- she had to learn to walk again. One month later, as determined as ever, she was riding her bike.
Facing the Future
Almost two years after her amputation, Sarah is a content teenager. She will be a junior in high school in the fall. Always a good student, she has won several awards for high grades and for courage and determination. She works with an after-school program at a child care center near her home in Alexandria, Kentucky, often teaching the kids there the same crafts she enjoyed as a child. Inspired by her own medical care, Sarah talks of entering a nursing program after high school.
Now considered a cured cancer survivor, this soft-spoken 17-year-old is enrolled in the Long-Term Survivor Program at Cincinnati Children's. Her first appointment was a positive one. "They said all good things about her," Lori says. "The chances of her cancer coming back are slim to none."
Sarah faces yet another surgery for a bone spur in her leg where the amputation took place. This is common for young amputees, and Sarah takes it in stride. "I'm a lot happier now. I can do more things," Sarah says. "If I had known it would be this easy, I probably would have had my leg amputated in the first place."
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