Sarcoma Awareness Week: Kim's Story

I was only 13 when I was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma.
I had been experiencing a pain in my calf area every time I would walk to school. On 27 April 2015 it was so bad that my calf had swollen and become very red. The school contacted my Mum and advised that I should be taken to A&E as they had 'never seen anything like it’.  At first we all thought it was a sports injury as I am a very sporty person, and it was put down to being a torn calf muscle but as I began to develop sweats over the next few days too an ultrasound was then carried out whereby it revealed a more serious issue. I had tumour in my calf muscle.

This was confirmed by an MRI on 13 May 2015 and I started chemo on 11 June 2015. Six rounds of chemo before surgery was the protocol, then surgery, then another twelve rounds of chemo. Those first six rounds caused discomfort, sickness and fear but was something I knew I had to endure as it was supposed to help me - I had to fight through it. Unfortunately, the chemo didn’t work on my tumour with only a 5% reduction in size. It was too big to be removed on its own. The only way to cure my cancer was the amputation of my right leg above the knee. This happened on 23 October 2015.

"I now live a fearless, confident and fun life just as a teenager should!"
- Kim

I remember waking up from the surgery in so much pain… that day will always leave me traumatised as it’s the day my life changed in the way I thought was for the worst at first. Turns out life hasn’t been all bad! Along with the negatives came positives, positives that have made up for the negatives and shown me more to life than I once thought.

One of these positives was the huge help provided by SCAT - without them I wouldn’t have progressed as quickly as I have! They provided me with a kick-start grant which helped fund the microprocessor leg I needed to open up wider opportunities and give me a chance of living a reasonably normal life again. With the help of SCAT and Dorset Orthopeadic I received a Rheo XC in April 2017 and  I am incredibly grateful for this. I am walking freely and confidently, keeping myself active just like I used too and doing things a teenager does - having fun! I can honestly say this leg has changed my entire perspective and experience of life - without it I wouldn’t be doing anywhere near as many things I am doing now. For that I can’t thank SCAT enough for the help they’ve given me and it shows no matter what situation, there are always people to help and that’s something I highly appreciate in this world. I now live a fearless, confident and fun life just as a teenager should!