My daughter hurt her arm by jumping on the bed but her X-ray discovered she had one of the rarest cancers in the world
- George Ivanoff, from Florida discovered his daughter Mila had osteosarcoma
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A man has revealed how he lived every parents nightmare after he discovered his 10-year-old daughter had one of the rarest forms of cancer in the world.
George Ivanoff, from Florida, said it was a ‘punch to the gut’ when he discovered his daughter Mila had osteosarcoma, which only affects one or two people across the world every year.
The father explained he was sitting in his home office late one afternoon when he heard Mila shout ‘ow’.
He rushed to see her, and Mila told him he had been jumping on her bed and fell.
She had hit her head, so George rushed her to urgent care to get checked out.
George Ivanoff, from Florida, said it was a ‘punch to the gut’ when he discovered his daughter Mila (pictured) had osteosarcoma, which only affects one or two people across the world every year
‘They did X-rays and saw the swelling and noticed what was some calcification but none of the doctors had any idea it was what it was. They told us keep an eye on it and come back in two weeks. It was then we realized something was not right,’ he told the Sun.
Worried about his little girl, George asked a friend who was an orthopaedist for a second opinion.
His friend spend around six months conferring with other doctors before giving the diagnosis no father wants to hear.
‘They told us she has osteosarcoma which is a bone cancer. The rarity comes from her age and the location of her cancer,’ George said.
The cancer usually presents in teenage boys and in larger bones such as legs – but in Mila’s case it was in her arm
The cancer usually presents in teenage boys and in larger bones such as legs.
But in Mila’s case, the cancer was in her arm, close to her wrist.
Doctors told George that cases like his only present about once or twice a year.
Once she was diagnosed, ‘everything happened really fast’.
Little Mila quickly was put on an aggressive form of chemotherapy, which caused her to loose her hair.
Combined with a cocktail of aggressive drugs, Mila lost her appetite and needed an aggressive surgery on her arm to remove the tumor.
After the chemo and the surgery Mila remained cancer free for six months.
Mila has now started treatment in New York and is doing well, even managing to do some sight-seeing between hospital visits
But then it came back, and Mila’s parents desperately started searching for a cure.
They found a treatment which, although commonplace in Europe, wasn’t FDA-approved.
The only way she would be able to get it was to travel more than 1,000 miles to New York.
Determined to save Mila, the family up sticks and moved to New York but after spending thousands on their first round of treatment, they had no idea how to afford it.
Then their ‘knight in shining armor’ came along.
Their story had caught the attention of billionaire philanthropist Patrick Carroll, who decided to help them.
He put them up in a home close to the New York hospital leaving the family ‘floored by his generosity’.
Mila has now started treatment in New York and is doing well, even managing to do some sight-seeing between hospital visits.
WHAT IS OSTEOSARCOMA?
Osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer, usually diagnosed in teenagers and young adults.
It occurs when the cells that grow new bone form a cancerous tumor.
The cause of the cancer is unknown but it is thought to be related to rapid bone growth, such as adolescence.
Most tumors usually develop around the knee, either in the lower part of the thighbone or the upper part of the shinbone.
If the cancer has not spread, the long-term survival rate is between 70 and 75 percent.
If osteosarcoma has already spread, such as to the lungs or other bones at diagnosis, the long-term survival rate is about 30 percent.
Symptoms:
- Bone pain (in motion, at rest, or when lifting objects)
- Bone fractures
- Swelling
- Redness
- Limping
- Limitation of motion of joints
There are a few treatment options for osteosarcoma.
- Chemotherapy:
Often administered before surgery, chemotherapy uses drugs that help shrink and kill cancerous cells. The length of treatment varies and may depend on whether the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
- Surgery:
In most cases, surgeons can save the cancerous limb. The tumor and surrounding bone are removed and the missing bone is replaced with an artificial one.
- Rotationplasty:
A rotationplasty is a procedure in which the bottom of the femur, the knee, and the upper tibia are surgically removed. The lower leg is then rotated 180 degrees and attached to the femur.
Sources: Macmillan and Healthline
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