Benefit planned for PV 13-year-old with cancer

The Bettendorf YMCA (3800 Tanglefoot Lane) will hold a benefit this Saturday, April 15, from 1-5 p.m., for Zach Maxwell, a brave, persistent Pleasant Valley 13-year-old with cancer.

Friends, families, businesses and supporters will join together to provide more support for Zach, an 8th-grader at Pleasant Valley Junior High. All the raffle prizes and auction items; all the smiles, tears, hugs, words of encouragement; the space itself, and the Y staff “will all be a testament to this community: how we come together, how we respond to challenges, why we are, who we are,” according to a Tuesday release from the Bettendorf Y.

Zach and his mom, Jodi Maxwell, planned to cancel their Y membership, because of financial hardship in the future, uncertainty, and a surgery to amputate Zach’s arm.

Zach’s brother was a lifeguard at the Y, and the family was well-known for being a positive part of the eastern Scott County community. When Luis Leal, branch executive at the Y, overheard the family explaining what was going on, he stepped in immediately, according to the Y release.

“We’re not cancelling your membership,” he said. “No way. Let’s see what else we can do.”

From there, Leal pulled from the Y’s campaign scholarship fund, found out Zach wasn’t really interested in the usual trip to a theme park, and learned he really wanted an electric bike, somehow customized to provide him mobility.

Luis got on the phone to his contacts, donors, board members. By the time Zach was out of the hospital, the arrangements had been made, Trek USA was involved, and a new bike was on its way.

Zach began his cancer journey Dec. 29, 2022, when he got the diagnosis of osteoblast osteosarcoma. It’s a type of bone cancer that usually develops in the osteoblast cells that form bone. It happens most often in children, adolescents, and young adults, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Approximately 800 new cases of osteosarcoma are reported each year in the U.S. Of these cases, about 400 are in children and teens. A Tuesday e-mail from the Y event organizer Katie Gagner forwarded this winter message from Zach:

“I love playing video games with family and friends whether it be on the computer, Xbox, or board games. I enjoy classes in science and math, and want to study pathology especially focusing on oncology which is cancer research.

“I’ve been recently diagnosed with, what doctors think, is osteosarcoma in my right shoulder and possible right lung. This is a very rare cancer targeting less than 400 kids a year, and is an estimated .0005% of the population.

“We are seeking treatment at the Mayo Clinic since they specialize in pediatric oncology and have a tremendous team of specialists who focus on this specific type of cancer,” Zach wrote. “Treatment could involve 3 months of chemotherapy by a port implanted in my chest, surgery to remove the cancerous tumor which may include losing my right arm, physical therapy, and multiple trips back and forth to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

“Please pray for wisdom for the doctors to know how to diagnose and help me, strength for me to endure these tests and procedures, and God’s grace to live a long and healthy life,” he wrote.

Leading to an amputation at Mayo

Zach’s mother, Jodi Maxwell, documented the few months leading up to his March right arm amputation at Mayo Clinic.

On Jan. 4, 2023, she wrote: “Oncology surgeon said it’s very serious. Mentioned bone marrow cancer. He has abnormalities not only his right shoulder but across his collar bone, right lung base, and illiac crest. Hes had a CT scan, PET scan and met with 3 specialists. Biopsy scheduled for tomorrow then back here next Tuesday for biopsy results and THE PLAN. Mentioned 12 weeks of chemo too. Zach said he’s scared. Me too.”

“He definitely has malignant cancer in his shoulder, throughout both lungs, and his hip,” she wrote Jan. 6, 2023. “Drs were worried about his lymph nodes being infected but they were clear (thank the Lord because that could be a death sentence right there). The tumor is in the proximal anterior humeral head and doesn’t extend to his elbow.”

“The nurses know I’m a nurse and said patients whose parents are nurses handle it REALLY hard because they understand the medical aspect of it,” Jodi wrote. “They also told me not to read anything else. Very true!! It’s so scary! Zach was crying today — scared and worried about losing his arm (which will probably be the case).”

On Jan. 7th, she wrote: “Yesterday his care team nurse said he must have a high threshold for pain because having this 2.1-inch tumor in his arm would be terribly painful and he hasn’t been complaining much at all. Breaks my heart when a mama can’t take that pain away.”

On Jan. 27th, surgeons decided to amputate his right arm along with his entire scapula on the right side and all but one inch of his clavicle, Jodi wrote. “The muscle that allows him to turn his head is connected to that 1 inch of clavicle, so they wanted to keep that.”

By the time he heals from the surgery and can start chemotherapy again will be 5 weeks, his mom said. “Worried the cancer is going to spread with that 5-week break.

On March 6th, Zach had his full right arm and shoulder amputated. The Facebook event page for the April 15 benefit says: “As you all know he has been through a life-changing operation, and through it all he continues to have a smile, and a positive attitude, inspiring all of us!!”