PEA RIDGE — He was 17 and healthy, or so his family thought. His knee had been hurting. A trip to the doctor resulted in assurances that everything would be okay. That was four months ago.
Monday, on her birthday, Valerie Ward spoke tearfully about her son Austin Bolek and their battle for his health. In December, Austin was diagnosed with osteosarcoma which is a malignant bone tumor. His is in his knee.
“Last September, we took him to the doctor for his knee hurting - we thought he had hurt it and didn’t realize it or that it was growing pains,” Mrs. Ward said. They went back in October and had an x-ray, which showed “shading” which they were told was “nothing to worry about.” He was put in a brace, but the knee pain worsened. Back to the doctor the first of December, Austin had an MRI on his knee.
“The doctor’s office called us the next day and said to come in,” Mrs. Ward recalled. When the family - Austin, Valerie and her husband, Phillip - went in, they were told there was “a growth on the knee. They didn’t elaborate.”
“They told us they had us set up for an appointment at Arkansas Children’s Hospital the next day,” she said.
“I just went numb and everything went foggy around me. I remember thinking ‘God, don’t let it be a tumor,’” Mrs. Ward said.
Ward, a kindergarten teacher at Pea Ridge Primary School, said she called Keith Martin, her principal, to tell him she wouldn’t be in the next day.
“Mom, is this something I can die from?” Austin asked.
And his mother, wanting to comfort him, said: “No, everything is going to be fine.”
“He’s asked that twice more in the hospital,” she said.
There is an 8 centimeter tumor on his knee. Ward said it can’t be removed “because it would open up and spread” and surgery won’t be performed until the tumor is 90 percent dead.
At Arkansas Children’s, Austin underwent a biopsy. He is scheduled to undergo 10 weeks of chemotherapy. On Feb. 20, doctors will perform a bone scan to check on the tumor.
“You can’t do radiation on osteosarcoma,” Ward said the doctors told her.
Osteosarcoma is rare, Ward said, explaining that there are only about 500 cases a year. She was told a child has a three to five in a million chance of getting it and that it most usually affects boys and most often during a growth spurt. And, Austin’s is Stage 2 with Stage 3 being the worst.
“If a parent ever is told there is shading on an x-ray of their child and they’re told it’s nothing to worry about, be proactive and ask for further testing,” Ward said.
At Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Austin is being treated by Dr.
Richard Nicholas, orthopaedics, and Dr. Kimo Stine, oncology.
“The doctors that he’s working with are the top in the nation,” Ward said.
“I feel like we’re in good hands.”
A senior at Pea Ridge High School, Austin was involved in agriculture classes and a member of the FFA. He was looking forward to attending Pittsburg State University in Kansas studying either mechanics or electrician, something technical, his mother said. But, those plans are on hold while he fights the cancer.
Now, he’s had to quit his job at Taco Bell. He can’t go to school.
He’s lost 30 pounds and is sick from the chemotherapy.
So, the family travels to Little Rock and Valerie sleeps on a couch in Austin’s room while he receives chemotherapy. The visit can be as short as four days and longer as needed.
“We never know how long we’ll be there, it all depends on when his kidneys flush the chemo,” she said.
The trip is expensive and not easy. Although the family has a small car that gets good gas mileage, it is too uncomfortable for Austin with his knee pain, so they driver a larger SUV.
Austin is the younger of Ward’s two children. She has a daughter, Erika Noble, 23, who also lives in Pea Ridge and has two sons.
Valerie is originally from Rogers. The family moved to Pea Ridge five years ago.
Austin’s grandparents also live in the area. They are: Jorene Beaver, Pea Ridge;
Donny and Cathy Beaver, Hiwassee; and Joe and Judy Bolek, Tontitown.
Austin attends New Life Fellowship, Weston Street, Pea Ridge and his parents attend Boundless Grace,Little Flock.
An account has been set up at Community First Bank by both Keith Martin, principal at Pea Ridge Primary, and Jon Laffoon, principal at Pea Ridge High School.
News, Pages 1 on 01/30/2013