Emily Quinajon is 12 years old, but she’s already faced more challenges than many people will in their entire life.
Emily Quinajon is 12 years old, but she’s already faced more challenges than many people will in their entire life.
It’s been nearly two years since Emily, a Waiakea Intermediate sixth-grader, was first diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer that most commonly affects teens and children. She noticed pain in her left leg, which parents Ricky and Evelyn Quinajon initially thought was growing pains; they didn’t see any redness or trauma.
But when Emily started limping, they went to their pediatrician, who found a tumor in initial X-rays. The family made its first trip to Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu.
In July 2014, Emily had a 14-hour surgery to remove her femur bone and its tumor, and replace it with a donor bone, a procedure called limb salvage.
Since then, Emily and her parents have traveled back and forth from Hilo to Kapiolani. There were rounds of chemotherapy, and follow-up appointments for the cancer treatment (there also were visits from Tucker, the hospital’s golden retriever and Chief Canine Officer).
“Ever since, (Emily’s) been on crutches,” said Ricky Quinajon on Saturday while at Kapiolani once more, this time with the whole family, including twins Eric and Raelyn, who are Waiakea fourth-graders. “They don’t want her to put any pressure on it.”
The bone is finally beginning to fuse together.
But one of the risks of chemotherapy is that it can damage other organs, such as the heart, liver or kidneys. After the follow-up to Emily’s last chemo treatment in January 2015, doctors found damage to her heart. Intensive Care Unit specialists stabilized Emily’s heart so she could go home.
In some pediatric cases, that is enough to lay the foundation for recovery and strengthening the heart. The stabilization lasted for about a year, but recently Emily began having liver problems as well. Doctors weren’t sure if the liver damage was because of medications or a byproduct of the heart damage, but her father said they leaned toward the latter.
On Sunday morning, Emily and her father took a medical transport flight to Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University, where the next step is an evaluation for a heart transplant. An evaluation is not a guarantee of a transplant, though.
“We just keep telling her to be strong,” Quinajon said. Emily keeps fighting, he said.
Emily prefers reading to television, and loves arts and crafts.
“Ben Franklin is her favorite place, so we always go there,” Quinajon said.
Neighbor Suzanne Nozaki, a retired teacher, said she and Emily worked on lei-making projects, and crafts for Valentine’s Day and Christmas.
Nozaki and another Quinajon neighbor, Pat Breault, worked with the family to set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money for medical and transportation expenses.
The page already raised more than $4,000, with many contributions coming in $20 or $50 amounts. The power of technology is amazing, Nozaki said.
“It’s just one way we can help,” she said. “It’s hard to know what to do other than help them in this way.”
Emily Quinajon’s GoFundMe page can be found at www.gofundme.com/bbsv3nzp.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.