Lexie Swarthout
Lexie is the oldest of 3 children and was diagnosed with Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, a soft tissue cancer, at the age of 3. The cancer presented as a soft ball sized tumor in her throat, but fortunately her family caught it before the cancer spread any further than her tumor.
Lexie’s treatment took almost a year to complete and included 30 rounds of “super power juice”, or chemo. She also completed 8 weeks of proton radiation because her tumor was inoperable based on the location. Lexie’s mom moved to St. Louis with her for 8 weeks when Lexie received her daily protein radiation at Siteman Cancer Center and her chemo at Saint Louis Children’s Hospital. Her father stayed at home with her siblings to try to keep life as normal as possible.
Along with her treatment, Lexie required a feeding tube because of sores in her mouth caused by the radiation. Her family also elected to have her ovaries harvested and stored if she one day wants to be a mother as the treatment would leave her infertile. Lexie’s mother was able to return to work just in time to save her job as Lexie completed her radiation treatment at the end of April 2018. Her 20-month re-scans show there is no active disease! Lexie’s mom explains, “She has shown bravery and strength well beyond her young innocent age.”