Meet Lexi – Sarcoma Warrior
“Lexi had never had a traumatic event in her life and she had no idea what was about to happen. I didn't either,” said Ashley, Lexi’s mom.
Three year-old Lexi showed symptoms of an ear infection so her mom, not thinking much of it, took her to their doctor to get it checked. During the examination, her doctor felt a mass in her abdomen and further tests revealed that it was something much more serious than an ear infection. She had a tumor on her kidney. “Lexi had never had a traumatic event in her life and she had no idea what was about to happen. I didn’t either,” said Ashley, Lexi’s mom. She was immediately rushed into surgery to remove the tumor. The operation was considered successful, but little Lexi still had to undergo radiation and chemotherapy. Her treatment kept Lexi at the hospital every day for six weeks, followed by weekly scans to monitor her kidney.
Lexi was too sick to attend daycare, so her mother Ashely, a nurse, had to reduce her schedule to part-time. Even with Lexi’s dad still working full-time, the pay cut caused their finances to suffer. That’s when their hospital social worker referred them to the NCCS. The organization was able to provide mileage assistance to make it easier for Lexi to get to all of her appointments. Lexi’s parents also found our parent guide very helpful in answering many questions they had about their cancer journey.