William’s Story

William was your average active 12 year old. He loved sports, especially basketball and football. He also enjoyed riding his bike and just hanging out with his friends. In May of 2019, we took him to the doctor to have his knee looked at as he thought he may have injured it while playing basketball. We received a call from the doctor later that night informing us he had to report to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) the following morning. At that appointment, additional scans were completed, and it did not look good. The following day, a biopsy was performed, and the results were in…cancer.

William was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Immediately following his diagnosis, the oncology team along with the orthopedic surgeon had mapped out his treatment plan. He would have a port put in his chest and a feeding tube in his abdomen. The following week, we were already in the thick of it. William started chemotherapy. He was admitted into CHOP for 3-5 nights a week for 10 months to receive chemotherapy. Four months into treatment, he underwent limb salvage surgery of his left leg, where he received an endoprosthesis. Following his surgery, he started what would be months of physical therapy to rebuild his strength and learn to walk again, all while still going through chemotherapy. Today, William is 90% back to himself. He does have some limitations as he can no longer run or jump but he is back on his bike and playing hard with his friends. William continues to deal with side effects from his chemo drugs such as hearing loss, fractures and a mass at his heart. William also had nodules in his lungs…three that actually just appeared this past month, which are being monitored as surgery is not yet an option. Most importantly, today William feels good and is strong and will continue to fight!

Our relationship with PCFLV started soon after treatment started. We were actually referred to them from another impatient family. After reaching out, they sent us gift cards for food and gas, which was a godsend. Since then, we have been able to participate in holiday parties and sporting events. This organization has let William and his sister, Emma, enjoy things that we could not necessarily do on our own, along with allowing him to just be happy and momentarily forget about everything he had been going through. We have also been fortunate to get to meet and spend time with other families like ours. With PCFLV, we know we are never alone!

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Written by William’s mom, Lynda

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Please consider donating in William's honor to support PCFLV's mission.

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Please also consider helping local kids with cancer by donating blood at Miller-Keystone Blood Center:

https://donor.giveapint.org/donor/schedules/centers