Kamloops family needs support as young son fights bone cancer
A Kamloops family is reeling after receiving a barrage of devastating, life-altering news in the past two weeks.
Alicia Anderson learned her son Hudson, 10, has osteosarcoma earlier this month, a cancer that originates in the bone-forming cells.
They checked into Ronald McDonald house on Oct. 6, to get tests done on a mass on Hudson’s hip.
Just days ago, they learned their son’s cancer has spread throughout his hips, pelvis, lower back and femurs, with multiple tumours showing on his scans.
“Having multiple tumours lowers survival rate to less than 50 per cent,” Anderson said.
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Due to the gravity of the situation, Anderson’s husband quit his job trucking and she's holding off on her studies in order to be in Vancouver at their son’s side while he endures an intense schedule of treatments.
“We will be spending every second with our baby as he continually finds the courage to fight the tumours,” she said.
The couple is currently sleeping at the hospital but it's a temporary solution and they'll require a place to live near the hospital.
She said Hudson is pretty sick from the treatments right now but busies himself playing video games and building things with Lego.
“We are handling it, it is easiest to just take one day at a time,” Anderson said. “We are lucky, Hudson is a really easy-going kid. We are long-time friends with another family here who has a child fighting cancer.
“We have already learned so much about what families are going through here.”
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Anderson said the first clues they had that something was wrong with their son was just three months ago.
“He woke up one day and didn’t love his favourite food anymore and then started disassociating with the world,” she said. “He wasn’t feeling pain, but one day he couldn’t walk. It was just a rapid decline.”
Anderson describes her son as kind, gentle and caring, a "friend to all those who meet him, to animals, bugs and all living things.” He loves video games, time in the outdoors, his school friends and his family.
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