Type of Sarcoma: Osteogenic Sarcoma
Date of Diagnosis: 1981
Location: Shoulder
Our son Doug passed away June 22,1984, from Osteogenic Sarcoma after a three-year battle with the disease at the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital. He had a soft tissue Osteo Sarcoma in the connective tissue in his shoulder with a break in the bone also, so they had to do radical surgery to remove his shoulder and his left arm.
It was discovered right after his 16th birthday party, after much pain in the shoulder area as he was a great golfer at 16 years old, plus a long-distance biker and love to canoe and camp. He was also the catcher for his baseball team. He was a great swimmer and spent many days at the pool.
He was then fitted for a prosthetic but hated it and quite often just threw it in the corner. He even golfed with one arm, and continued to do the things he loved between treatments – he was an amazing kid. He had many treatments of chemo as it had gone into the lungs unfortunately, and he had eight lung surgeries. The last one was to remove the left lung, and he did not survive that surgery at the age of 18, a week before his 19th birthday; June 30, 1984.
During treatment, while he finished high school and through one year studying engineering at the UMN, he never gave up. He took up running in order to build up his strength. A bright and brilliant son, always a blessing to have around. There has been a empty spot in our hearts and a empty chair now over 29 years.
He loved the Lord and let everyone know that, so we are looking forward to seeing him again some day.
Submitted by: Arlene and Gary Brame and Doug’s sister, Sheryl.
