In March of 2004, at 12 years old, Spencer was diagnosed with Synovial Cell Sarcoma.
Synovial Cell Sarcoma is a cancer of the soft tissue.
Sarcomas are cancers that arise from the cells that hold the body together. These could be cells related to muscles, nerves, bones, fat,
tendons, cartilage, or other forms of "connective tissues". There are hundreds of different kinds of sarcomas, which come from different kinds of cells.
Dr. George D. Demetri, MD
Director, Sarcoma and Bone Oncology Center
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School
Before Spencer’s diagnosis, I don’t know that we had ever heard of the word, “Sarcoma”. It may not be that we had never heard of it, but it
didn’t personally affect us, so we carried on and never thought twice about it.
Spencer made the comment one day, “Mom, I used to think that cancer only affected old people, but now everyone I talk to either has or had
cancer, or knows someone that has or had cancer.”
I will never forget those words.
Spencer’s story is not unique. I only have to take the elevator to the 6th or 10th floor of Children’s Medical Center in Dallas to know this.
Here I see many children and their parents and loved ones dealing with this disease. This is a small portion, 1 hospital, 1 floor in Dallas,
Texas.
But to us, Spencer is unique. He was our child, he was a brother, he was a grandson, nephew, cousin, friend, student, or we knew him through someone
that was close to him. He was that matter of fact kid that could deal with anything life threw at him. He is an inspiration to many of
us on how to handle life…take it as it comes, deal with it, and move on.
Spencer’s story has a purpose. We don’t know what it is, we may never know what it is. There are so many people that were following his progress,
that we felt the need to create this website back in 2004 when this journey first began. It’s nothing special, just the story of a young man who fought
the battle of his life. Maybe through this website, one person will find the strength to overcome a battle they have in their life. Maybe one person
will discover the information they need for a diagnosis, maybe one person will find that one laugh they need for the day. Hopefully it will not only
serve as a way for us to keep everyone informed of Spencer’s story, it will not only serve as a way to show the many thoughts and prayers
that surrounded Spencer while he was with us, but we hope it will help someone, somewhere along the way. That being said, you are welcome to forward the link
to Spencer’s page to anyone
you wish to share it with.
