Love in a Time of Crisis
- Keith and Analiza Vincent live in the rural town of Knox, Indiana. The couple’s life was thrown off track last year when their daughter, Jinger, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer.
- Having no choice but to take out short-term, high-interest loans just to pay the $200 per week for gas, Keith felt helpless. The family started a fundraising page, and have been overwhelmed by the amount of love and support that strangers shared for them.
- Osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer. It can affect children, teens, and adults, though osteosarcoma in teens are more common. The main symptom of sarcoma is a slow-growing, painless mass, which makes it hard for many to detect until the later stages of the disease.
Having to face a tough disease that young is stressful enough, but with soaring gas prices, the family had double the devastation when they struggled to be able to afford driving Jinger to her treatments in South Bend. The more populous Indiana town is around 40 miles from where the Vincents live.
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Thankfully, the family had the opportunity to share their story recently on CBS Evening News, and generous donations from strangers started pouring in to their GoFundMe page. Their goal was a humble $10,000, but the fundraiser has now surpassed $75,000, and counting.
“We can’t believe it,” he continues. “We’re humbled and in shock. It’s just mind-boggling. We’ve suddenly got some breathing room now. We’re not worried about losing the house or where the next groceries are going to come from.”
Their daughter Jinger, “who is active in sports and enjoys sleepovers,” has not been shy about all the attention, and coming from a town of just 3,500 people, it’s something new and exciting for her.
How to Get Help With the Cancer Bills
“She’s been reading about herself online, watching her interview and it just lit her up,” Keith shared.
Jinger recently had a tough surgery to remove cancerous tumors from her lungs and this love from a new community of supporters has certainly helped her fight.
“She was like a hollow person before all this started, but now she’s got a bit of positive emotion and it’s really done her a lot of good.”
What is Osteosarcoma?
Osteosarcoma, according to the American Cancer Society, is the most common type of bone cancer. It can affect children, teens, and adults, though osteosarcoma in teens are more common.
According to the ACS site, “the cancer cells in these tumors look like early forms of bone cells that normally help make new bone tissue, but the bone tissue in an osteosarcoma is not as strong as that in normal bones.”
Most cases develop in the bones around the knee or close to the shoulder. It is also important to note that bone tumors aren’t always cancerous, but it’s good to be informed and aware of this type of disease.
Other Types of Sarcomas
The word sarcoma refers to a large array of bone and soft tissue cancers, and those are then further broken down into more specific forms of the disease, including:
Ewing's sarcoma
A cancer that typically occurs in and around the bones, often in the arms or legs, or the bones of the pelvis. It most commonly occurs in children and young adults.
Kaposi sarcoma
A very rare type of cancer that causes lesions on the skin, in lymph nodes, organs, and the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, and throat. It typically affects people with compromised immune systems, such as those with HIV.
Epithelioid sarcoma
A soft tissue cancer that grows slowly. It is likely to begin under the skin of areas like the finger, hand, forearm, lower part of the leg, or foot.
Synovial sarcoma
Also known as a malignant (cancerous) synovioma, this is a cancer that can form soft tissues such as muscle or ligaments, commonly close to joints or in areas like the arm, leg, or foot.
Osteogenic sarcoma
Also known as osteosarcoma, this cancer forms in the bone and is most common in young children.
Spindle cell sarcoma
A rare form of the disease that accounts for less than 2% of all primary bone cancer cases. It's most common in adults over 40 and often forms in the bones of the arms, legs, and pelvis.
Sarcoma Symptoms
The main symptom of sarcoma is a slow-growing, painless mass, which makes it hard for many to detect until the later stages of the disease.
"Unfortunately, most sarcomas do not cause many of the symptoms that may be associated with other cancers," Dr. Dale Shepard, director of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute Phase I and Sarcoma Programs, previously told SurvivorNet.
Shepard explained that this often leads to large tumors at the time of diagnosis.
"Soft tissue sarcomas are typically painless," Dr. Shepard explained. "Bone sarcomas may be mistaken for orthopedic injuries. A mass the size of a golf ball or larger and growing should be evaluated as a potential sarcoma. Patients who do have symptoms mustn't be dismissive of them."
Contributing by SurvivorNet staff.
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