Eli Thompson dreams of becoming a basketball coach. While the sophomore at Central Hardin High School in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, may have his sights set on championship wins on the court, he has achieved an even bigger win in his young life. Eli is a leukemia survivor, beating B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common…
Many warm-weather activities are just around the corner. In an effort to maintain a sun-kissed look, many teens will turn to tanning beds, which can come with an increased risk of developing skin cancer. “A considerable problem with that is many people, especially young people, turn to tanning beds in order to accomplish what they think…
The expressive arts team, part of Norton Children’s Cancer Institute supports childhood cancer patients with music, art and massage therapy as they undergo treatment at Norton Children’s Hospital. The team has modified these normally hands-on, in-person therapy sessions to continue helping immunocompromised patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. While precautions such as visitor restrictions are necessary…
Drew Esposito, “Super Drew” to those who know him, spent almost half a year in the Addison Jo Blair Cancer Care Center at Norton Children’s Hospital. When the 5-year-old returned in January, it wasn’t as a patient. This time, he brought a $31,407 check to help the patients who will follow him. Drew gained his…
It’s unlikely Jim James was thinking of childhood cancer when he wrote the song “Victory Dance,” for My Morning Jacket’s 2011 record “Circuital.” The song, however, has become a rallying cry for the children and young adults undergoing treatment at Norton Children’s Cancer Institute. With the musician’s permission, the Norton Children’s Cancer Institute’s Cancer Beats…
In the weeks leading up to Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009, 13-year-old Bradley Wilson was feeling sick. He’d gone to his pediatrician and was told that it was just a virus. Friday night, Aug. 28, he was as sick as he’d ever felt in his entire life. His parents realized that something was really wrong; Bradley…
Since she was a child, Jenni Haynes wanted to adopt a baby girl from overseas. That dream recently became reality. In April 2018, Jenni and her husband adopted a 2-year-old girl from China who had survived cancer as an infant. The girl’s right arm was amputated when she was 5 months old after she was…
There is an amount of uncertainty with any type of neurosurgery. Neurosurgeons study a patient’s medical history, current condition, and computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to plan for surgery. However, those images can show only so much. Once surgery begins, surgeons may face issues that they couldn’t have anticipated. Now, however,…
Andrea and Barry Smith will never forget April 25, 2018. That’s the day their 18-month-old daughter, Emaleigh, had a computed tomography (CT) scan that threw the family into a tailspin. The Smiths had barely gotten home from the test when the doctor called. Emaleigh had a solid tumor in her chest, near vertebrae — hugging…
Symptoms of osteosarcoma in kids Pain and swelling are common signs of osteosarcoma. It is not unusual for active children and teenagers to experience limb pain as they grow, but any pain that lingers beyond two weeks should be checked by a medical provider, especially if it involves swelling. According to the American Cancer Society,…
For many families, Christmas is a time for treasured memories. For the Walsh family, the Christmas of 2018 will always be unforgettable, but not for the usual reasons. That was when 4-year-old Seth was diagnosed with leukemia. Michelle Walsh said the news of Seth’s cancer threw the entire family into shock. “It all happened so…
A haploidentical transplant is a special type of allogeneic blood and marrow transplant used to treat children with blood-related cancer and disorders, for whom a conventional stem cell donor cannot be found. In an allogeneic transplant, a child’s unhealthy blood-forming stem cells are replaced with a donor’s healthy blood-forming stem cells. For the transplant to…