8 Years Old at Diagnosis
Wesley was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer) on March 29, 2011, after a chance fall and lucky x-ray. He was immediately thrust into the world of hospitals, doctors and the unknown. His parents had no idea what to expect with the treatments, how he would react or what they would do to their otherwise healthy son. After nine months of chemo treatments and a really-really long limb salvage surgery he was pronounced “No Evidence of Disease” for nine months. Then in October of 2012 there was a recurrence of the cancer in his lungs. Immediately they were again thrown into a life they did not choose.
Wesley had six more months of chemo and surgery on his lungs. His first set of post treatment scans, in April 2013, showed one small spot on his right lung that was too small to do anything about so the doctors just watched it for six months until it grew some and they could remove it. Another lung surgery. In the meantime it was discovered that his leg had not completely healed as they thought and in January of 2014 he had another lengthy surgery on his leg to fix the issues. Just when the family thought there might be a break in the action his scans in February displayed more cancer in his left lung. A third lung surgery.
Wesley had a fourth lung surgery in May of 2014 but after there were still tumors showing in follow-up scans. These new tumors were in an area they deemed inoperable.
It is because of CureSearch and work they do for pediatric cancer research that Wesley had options after this. He was involved in two trials and took a maintenance chemo in between to hopefully keep his cancer in check. Unfortunately, Wesley succumbed to the cancer on March 3, 2015.
Wesley’s family is very involved with the Ultimate Hike and have been since the inaugural Dolly Sods hike in 2013. In 2015 the Wesley’s Warriors team set records by raising over $56K for research in honor of Wesley. You will be sure to find them on the trail again in 2016 and they plan to surpass their record breaking totals!
For more information about the Ultimate Hike, visit www.UltimateHike.org.
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