Five-year-old gets titanium femur

COURTESY PHOTO Angeline Thompson was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a type of bone cancer that typically strikes boys between the ages of 10 and 20. Five-year-old Angeline Thompson is one of a kind.

Diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a type of bone cancer that typically strikes boys between the ages of 10 and 20, she is the first patient to receive an expandable titanium femur at HealthPark Medical Center.

Untreated, the disease will spread to the lungs and other bones. Any bone can be affected, though the most common sites are the pelvis, thigh, lower leg, upper arm, and rib.

She had the surgery on Aug. 3, some four months after her mother took her to Cape Coral Hospital's emergency room for what she thought was a pulled muscle. Kim Thompson said she thought Angeline had pulled a muscle when her father was goofing around with her one day. She remembers reprimanding her husband, but in hindsight thinks it was a miracle in disguise.

Otherwise, Thompson said the cancer, which is very aggressive, likely would have metastasized to Angeline's lungs.

COURTESY PHOTO Recovering Angeline Thompson. But instead of a pulled muscle, doctors told Thompson that her daughter had a fracture in her left femur and cancer.

Angeline's surgery was the sixth time the procedure had been performed in the United States and the 53rd time worldwide.

"They salvaged the lower third of her femur," said Thompson, 36. "As a result, they were able to salvage about 80 percent of her growth rate. The titanium femur only has to make up for 20 percent."

Once a year, the Thompsons will drive to Tampa's H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, where electromagnetic waves will lengthen the femur at a rate of 1 millimeter every four minutes. The center houses the only magnet in the country that can be used for the procedure.

Dr. Doug Letson, an orthopedic oncological surgeon who specializes in Ewing's sarcoma at the Moffitt Center, participated in Angeline's surgery. Dr. Brett Shannon, a surgeon with Pediatric Orthopedics of Southwest Florida, has also assisted in Angeline's care.

COURTESY PHOTO Angeline Thompson's new titanium femur. "We want to keep the kids close to home, and Dr. Letson came down from Tampa to help us do that," said Shannon. "Dr. Letson has made several visits to our medical center, so that kids and teenagers can get the medical care they need and stay near their families."

When Angeline was first diagnosed, her mother worried about how she would handle losing her long, blonde hair to chemotherapy.

"I had to explain to her what (Ewing's sarcoma) was," said Thompson. "Probably the hardest part to explain was that she was going to lose her hair. She's a girly girl. But, she combed it out herself and we are keeping it in a bucket."

Angeline, who has been collecting angels since her diagnosis, has taken the entire procedure in stride, though.

"She moves her own legs. She gets herself out of bed," said Thompson. "She is not the type of person who accepts help for something that she can do herself, even if it causes her pain."

Angeline will undergo chemotherapy for another eight months. She is also preparing to have breakfast with Cinderella, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. ¦