Arlette Chavez was a typical 3-year-old who loved jumping on the bed, riding her bike, and playing tag, said her mother, Lesly Rivera. When this active preschooler started complaining of pain in her left arm, Ms. Rivera and her husband, Carlos Chavez, weren’t overly concerned – it was probably a minor injury, they reasoned. But when an X-ray revealed a tumor on her left humerus, the bone that runs from the shoulder to the elbow, a biopsy soon confirmed that Arlette had a rare bone and soft tissue cancer called Ewing’s sarcoma. It is diagnosed in only about 200 children and teens each year in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society.
Tag: patient story
‘Dr. Elias saved my life’: 11-hour surgery removes dangerous, rare spinal tumor
This surgery to remove a cervical intradural traumatic neuroma was one of the most complex that Elias Elias, M.D., Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center, has performed during his career as a neurosurgeon.
Patient trapped by fallen tree during tornado walks again thanks to UAB
Arnoldo Vasquez Hernandez was pinned under an oak tree that fell on his house during a tornado in January 2021, requiring a rare, in-the-field amputation. After being fitted for a prosthetic leg, he is now able to take his first steps in nearly five months.