My Story

On April 5th, 2016 (my 17th birthday), I was officially diagnosed with a rare of form bone cancer called an Osteosarcoma. It was extremely aggressive and unlike anything, the doctors had seen before due to the type and location of the mass. There have only been about 6-12 other cases world wide of an osteosarcoma being located on the ribcage and I became one of them. In about three months the mass had grown to about 10cm wide and protruded out from my left side.

After diagnosis, I was quickly introduced to Starship Children’s Hospital and began chemotherapy. However, the first type of chemotherapy did not do anything and the mass grew further and spread. The doctors became very nervous about the precarious position that I was now in and so I began a new type of chemotherapy straight away. I also needed a chest drain as my lung lining was accumulating fluid due to the cancer that had developed there.

Due to the extremely high doses that I was on and my chest drain procedures, chemotherapy was incredibly harsh on my body and had unforgiving symptoms. Every two weeks, I had to spend 5 days in the hospital as the chemotherapy was given for 5 hours over 5 days. As a result, in about two weeks I lost my all my hair and dropped around 21kgs.

Whilst receiving chemotherapy, I also needed radiation therapy to gain control of the cancer. This treatment was a huge success but resulted in a very large burn across my left side.

After numerous rounds of both chemotherapy and radiation, my scan results and biopsy revealed that the cancer in my left side was dead and under control. However, there was a small nodule in my right lung that needed removing as it appeared to have grown slightly throughout treatment.

All was completed and cleared and once this surgery was done I was free to continue with my life; playing golf, going to the beach, exercising and enjoy the Christmas and New Year holiday break with my friends and family.

However, in early January I began to have some problems breathing and on January 4th, 2017 I was taken back to the hospital. A scan revealed that another 5 masses had grown in my right lung with the large centre one pushing on my bronchial tube and closing off my airway.

The tumours were also secreting fluid at a rapid rate and at one point I accumulated 3.3L in three days. As this was not comfortable, I had to have a permanent chest drain inserted.

Thankfully, I am back in Starship’s care and am on treatment again; chemotherapy and radiation. I do play golf most days but not when I have chemotherapy or if I am feeling a bit unwell.

If you are interested in keeping up with my progress or would like the extended version of my story, please follow “Tales of Pete” on Facebook.