Cancer care close to home
blessing for Dickinson family

Ewing sarcoma is a rare form of cancer that occurs primarily in the bone or soft tissue. It can also spread to other areas of the body.

Anthony’s only symptom was a lump on his shoulder, which his chiropractor thought might be a fatty tumor. Because it kept growing, he sent Anthony to see a surgeon who suspected Ewing sarcoma and performed a biopsy.

“As I walked into our house to tell Anthony he had cancer, I prayed for courage,” Jeanette said. “I couldn’t believe this was happening to
my son.”

They were immediately scheduled to leave for Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., to see specialists in rare pediatric cancer. Testing confirmed Ewing sarcoma, which had spread to his lungs. His protocol would be 14 rounds of chemotherapy. Each round required him to be hospitalized for five days, and chemo would be repeated every 18 days. After five months, the pediatric surgeon would determine if the tumor could be safely removed.

“My first thought was, ‘How would we be able to travel to Rochester every two weeks?’ ” Jeanette said. “I was so relieved when Anthony’s oncologist told us Bismarck had an excellent pediatric oncologist,
Dr. Baruti Serabe, and we could do most of the chemo treatments at Medcenter One.

“Dr. Serabe was phenomenal—so compassionate and understanding,” Jeanette said. “The communication between her and Mayo Clinic was so good it was as if they were next door to each other.”

For Jeanette, a single mother with two older grown children, the staff provided an invaluable source of support. “Dr. Serabe and the nurses became our family, our friends,” she said. “The nurses took care of Anthony as if he were their son. It isn’t a job, it’s their passion.”