Cancer Doesn’t Keep Manchester Teen Down
October 6, 2019 at 10:58 p.m.
Cancer Doesn’t Keep Manchester Teen Down
By Amanda [email protected]
Gage Reed was diagnosed with primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL), a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that mainly affects young adults. PMBCL develops when the body makes abnormal B-cells – the lymphoma cells.
His parents, Curtis and Ashtenne Reed, said Gage was diagnosed in July 2018 after they took him to see an allergist after he was displaying allergy symptoms.
“He had hives, watery eyes, sneezing, was very tired, going outside made it worse,” they said. So they took him to see an allergist.
“The allergist does a breathing test to see if you can do the allergy test,” Ashtenne said. “But he kept failing the breathing test, so they said let’s do an EKG and that’s when they found the mass.”
Three days later, Gage was sent to three doctors – two in Fort Wayne and one in Indianapolis – then the family found themselves staying for a month at Riley Hospital for Children where doctors there started taking biopsies. When they were told what it was, “it ended up being July 13,” his mom said, “Friday the 13th.”
The mass is a tumor in his chest walls that spans from armpit to armpit, wraps around his heart and all of his arteries and wraps around one shoulder, his parents said.
Despite doing six months of “chemo cocktails” that required Gage to be hospitalized for a week, go home for two weeks, then come back for another week of chemo, the chemo didn’t do anything.
“He lost his hair,” his mom said, but that was about it as far as results from the chemotherapy.
The pediatrician then decided to use radiation to help shrink the mass down some to make Gage more comfortable, but radiation was never going to help the problem, Ashtenne said. Gage has even gone through an open-heart surgery to have a biopsy done on the tumor.
“Now they’ve started him on Keytruda,” his parents said, adding that it’s an immunotherapy drug that basically changes the way his cells function. The medicine comes with a 1% chance of working. But for Gage, it seems to be the only thing that’s worked so far.
“He’s had one scan done and so far it’s been the most promising and it’s actually working,” his parents said.
They said when they were told the diagnosis, a lot went through their head. But they also said that Gage’s positive attitude and joking sense of humor help them more than he probably realizes.
“He acts like it’s no big deal,” his mom said.
Gage said when he found out he had cancer he was “surprised.” He also said he feels pretty good on a day-to-day basis.
His parents – who also have three other children, Jaiden, 12; Xaivier, 11; and Cerenity, 6 – said it’s been tough not only emotionally but financially.
One round of chemo costs $149,000, they said. “I’ve got insurance,” Curtis said. “But we’ve got other house bills and one time the medical bills all seemed to come in at once and the stack was this high,” he said, gesturing with his thumb and index finger completely open. “Everything starts to fall behind,” he said.
A fundraiser was Saturday at the Art’s Country Park Campground in North Manchester for the family. A silent auction and freewill rummage sale took place along with activities for kids. The fundraisers have dwindled and Gage’s name in the news has faded since he was first diagnosed a year ago, his parents said.
Anyone who would like to donate to the Reed family can mail donations to 407 N. Front St., North Manchester, IN 46962.
Gage had some sage advice on Saturday: “Don’t give up. Live day by day. Don’t take anything for granted, and have fun and do things that make you happy.”
Gage Reed was diagnosed with primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL), a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that mainly affects young adults. PMBCL develops when the body makes abnormal B-cells – the lymphoma cells.
His parents, Curtis and Ashtenne Reed, said Gage was diagnosed in July 2018 after they took him to see an allergist after he was displaying allergy symptoms.
“He had hives, watery eyes, sneezing, was very tired, going outside made it worse,” they said. So they took him to see an allergist.
“The allergist does a breathing test to see if you can do the allergy test,” Ashtenne said. “But he kept failing the breathing test, so they said let’s do an EKG and that’s when they found the mass.”
Three days later, Gage was sent to three doctors – two in Fort Wayne and one in Indianapolis – then the family found themselves staying for a month at Riley Hospital for Children where doctors there started taking biopsies. When they were told what it was, “it ended up being July 13,” his mom said, “Friday the 13th.”
The mass is a tumor in his chest walls that spans from armpit to armpit, wraps around his heart and all of his arteries and wraps around one shoulder, his parents said.
Despite doing six months of “chemo cocktails” that required Gage to be hospitalized for a week, go home for two weeks, then come back for another week of chemo, the chemo didn’t do anything.
“He lost his hair,” his mom said, but that was about it as far as results from the chemotherapy.
The pediatrician then decided to use radiation to help shrink the mass down some to make Gage more comfortable, but radiation was never going to help the problem, Ashtenne said. Gage has even gone through an open-heart surgery to have a biopsy done on the tumor.
“Now they’ve started him on Keytruda,” his parents said, adding that it’s an immunotherapy drug that basically changes the way his cells function. The medicine comes with a 1% chance of working. But for Gage, it seems to be the only thing that’s worked so far.
“He’s had one scan done and so far it’s been the most promising and it’s actually working,” his parents said.
They said when they were told the diagnosis, a lot went through their head. But they also said that Gage’s positive attitude and joking sense of humor help them more than he probably realizes.
“He acts like it’s no big deal,” his mom said.
Gage said when he found out he had cancer he was “surprised.” He also said he feels pretty good on a day-to-day basis.
His parents – who also have three other children, Jaiden, 12; Xaivier, 11; and Cerenity, 6 – said it’s been tough not only emotionally but financially.
One round of chemo costs $149,000, they said. “I’ve got insurance,” Curtis said. “But we’ve got other house bills and one time the medical bills all seemed to come in at once and the stack was this high,” he said, gesturing with his thumb and index finger completely open. “Everything starts to fall behind,” he said.
A fundraiser was Saturday at the Art’s Country Park Campground in North Manchester for the family. A silent auction and freewill rummage sale took place along with activities for kids. The fundraisers have dwindled and Gage’s name in the news has faded since he was first diagnosed a year ago, his parents said.
Anyone who would like to donate to the Reed family can mail donations to 407 N. Front St., North Manchester, IN 46962.
Gage had some sage advice on Saturday: “Don’t give up. Live day by day. Don’t take anything for granted, and have fun and do things that make you happy.”
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