 For Kim Sparling, cancer came out of left field. In May 2004, the athletic 18-year old was playing in a softball game and experienced soreness in her right leg after diving to make a catch.
The pain persisted over the next few months despite physiotherapy, impeding Kim’s ability to pursue a busy life—working three jobs, playing multiple sports and maintaining an active social life. A second medical opinion brought a “devastating” diagnosis. The doctor told Kim that she had osteogenic sarcoma, a rare bone cancer.
“I knew I was going to beat it. I never once thought I was going to die of cancer. It didn’t even cross my mind,” Kim says. “Negative thinking would have made things worse.”
Kim’s determination would show through during her treatment at the BC Cancer Agency and Vancouver General Hospital, as she went through two rounds of chemotherapy and had her right leg amputated two inches above the knee.
Throughout this difficult time, friends and family were constantly at her bedside, sleeping on whatever was available and holding “chemo parties” at the hospital to boost Kim’s spirits. The community came out in force to support fundraisers to pay for prosthetic limbs and accessibility improvements to the family’s house.
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Cancer is a collection of diseases that have in common uncontrolled cell growth and the ability to invade the body. Cancer can spread locally (in the region where it arose) and travel to sites of the body distant from where it arose. Distant spread is called metastasis. The ability to spread makes cancer a malignant disease. Malignant means that the disease, if not treated, can progress and lead to death.