Lane takes his fight against Osteosarcoma day by day.
Lane knows firsthand that when people say the road to the cure of cancer is a “battle”, that isn’t just an idle metaphor. Like other kinds of battles, fighting against this villain takes a real physical toll on the body. One of the 17-year-old’s favorite things to do in his spare time is play basketball with his friends. Like many boys his age, when he wasn’t pursuing high scores on his Playstation, he was practicing dunks and layups in driveways all over his hometown in Iowa.
But last September, something felt wrong. Basketball, which had always brought him so much joy, had become strangely painful. Wondering if he had sprained or broken his leg, his family brought him to the hospital to get checked out. It was there that he learned there was a tumor in his leg bone, and it was malignant. He was diagnosed with a kind of cancer called osteosarcoma. Treatment was to begin immediately.
On the morning of his 17th birthday, Lane rose early from bed. 200 miles away was the children’s oncology center at the University of Iowa, where he was to receive his first round of chemotherapy. It would not be the last. Since then, he has made that trip every single week to drive his tumor back. This is over six hours in the car in total for every round of chemo, and hundreds of dollars in fuel costs. Even with this momentous effort, he was in severe danger of losing his leg. In December, Lane underwent a limb salvaging surgery which entailed a partial removal of his tibia, and a total knee replacement.
To repeat, the “battle” against cancer is not just a metaphor for Lane. The physical scars it leaves behind show that it is a battle in the truest sense. Likewise, a victory against cancer is also a victory in the truest sense. For kids like Lane, those same scars become a reminder of their strength and perseverance.
In the coming months, Lane will be continue to be challenged. His chemo is scheduled to end in April 2020. After this, he will face months of chemotherapy to regain some of the strength in his leg that was taken from him. But if anyone can rise to the occasion, it’s him. According to mom, Michelle, her favorite thing about Lane is that “he is so calm, laid back, and takes whatever is thrown at him with stride.” With the support of his family and the donors of Compass to Care, Lane can continue to push toward a future where his physical stride matches his resilient attitude once again.