Cardio for a cause
When Aidan Knox was diagnosed with bone cancer, his first order of business was to get a mohawk.
“Before I got cancer, I wasn’t a big fan of change, so I never wanted to try anything crazy with my hair,” Aidan said. “But, when I found out I was going to lose it anyway, I thought it was a perfect time to try something fun.”
Like Aidan, Kate Speer, owner of Studio Fit in Houston and a Knox family friend, also has a way of finding fun amidst the seriousness of cancer.
Speer is organizing a Zumbathon for the Bentworth fourth-grader, who is undergoing treatment for Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer typically found in children.
The Zumbathon will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Friday at 84 Fitness in Eighty Four, a space donated to accommodate the ever-growing list of participants.
For those less inclined to work up a sweat with Speer and the other instructors volunteering their time, the event also features chair massages, a Chinese auction, a 50/50 raffle and a photo booth.
Zumba is a cardio-heavy fitness program combining Latin, Indian and other styles of dance with martial arts. Zumbathons, which are developed and individually approved by Zumba Fitness LLC, are hosted by licensed Zumba instructors to creatively draw participants to charity, community and individual fundraisers for those in need.
As one of only 250 American families to deal with a diagnosis of Ewing’s sarcoma this year, the Knox family of Bentleyville certainly stands out as a worthy cause.
“In the case of Ewing’s sarcoma, it’s a lot of time in the hospital, a lot of disruption of their lives and a lot of nights spent getting chemotherapy,” said Dr. Rachael Courtney, pediatric oncology fellow at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and a member of Aidan’s treatment team. “We have to talk medicine and do things they don’t like here, but our goal is to make his time in the hospital as normal a childhood as possible.”
The Zumbathon is just one of a few events organized by the local community to help support the Knox family. Even though Aidan won’t be able to attend the Zumbathon because his blood counts will be predictably low around that time from his chemotherapy, the effort of the local community isn’t lost on him.
“When people that I don’t know and my family doesn’t know are helping … that was a little bit surprising,” Aidan said. “But it’s been good.”
That thoughtful reaction isn’t rare for Aidan.
According to his mother, Jamie, Aidan is a quiet, intelligent and kind 9-year-old boy, fond of Legos, video games and his pitbull-boxer mix, Champ.
Despite the medical marathon Aidan has been running since August, “He really hasn’t changed at all,” Jamie said.
Aidan’s health problems began with pain through his buttocks and down his right leg, which prompted a visit to his pediatrician. When a physical assessment and lab work did little to explain the discomfort, Jamie was instructed to take a trip to Children’s Hospital that week.
After a biopsy of the affected bone, doctors concluded Aidan was suffering from a Staph infection in one of his vertebrae. Treatment lasted six weeks and required the placement of a PICC line – a fancy intravenous line made for longer-term therapy – weekly in-home nursing care and IV antibiotics given twice daily by his newly-trained parents.
While somewhat overwhelming at the time, the Knoxes were thrilled to know that Aidan’s pain had disappeared and all signs of infection were diminishing.
Until the next week, however, when Aidan began to complain of the same lower body pain, which earned him a second bone biopsy. This time it revealed a “weird, freaky bug,” as Jamie calls it.
Doctors said the culprit was indeed a bone infection, but they had been treating the bacteria with the wrong type of antibiotic.
Aidan and his parents set up shop in a room at Children’s Hospital for a full week to finally rid Aidan of the stubborn infection.
When Aidan arrived home the evening of Sept. 21, the Knox family was prepared for a full-blown celebration, complete with Aidan’s 4-year-old brother, Dylan, Jamie’s parents and Champ. The house was buzzing with excitement and relief when Jamie stepped away to answer the phone.
The freshness and trauma of that moment prevents Jamie from speaking about it in any detail, but that ring signaled the beginning of the Knox family’s official battle with cancer.
Since that day, Aidan has endured almost eight weeks of chemotherapy to treat the cancer that is isolated to one tiny bone of his lower spine, including five-day hospital admissions every four weeks.
“The five days are especially tough on him because he really gets homesick,” said Jamie, who moves into Aidan’s hospital room along with her husband, Lance. “He misses Champ terribly when he’s in the hospital; we all do.”
Even when it seems that nothing could bring a smile to Aidan’s face, the therapy dogs permitted to roam Children’s Hospital never fail to lift the mood during those lengthier stays.
For Aidan, the road to recovery remains long. A full battery of tests and scans to determine any need for radiation or surgery are scheduled just before Christmas, and 22 more weeks of chemo and hospital stays are scheduled regardless of the results.
Luckily, there is no end to the support the Knox family is receiving.
“We’re just completely amazed at the goodness in people and what people do when they put their hearts together to make something happen for us,” Jamie said. “We’re constantly thinking of ways to pay it forward because we just don’t know how to thank everybody for what they’re doing for us.”
For more information on how to participate in the Zumbathon for Aidan, visit www.Live-the-Proof.com.
By Abigail Mackey
For the Observer-Reporter
newsroom@observer-reporter.com