Gymnast surmounting hurdle of losing leg
April 29, 2009
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Ashante Infantry
STAFF REPORTER
Erica Scarff spent the Easter holidays like many 12-year-old girls – shopping and seeing the new Hannah Montana film – but it was a bigger deal for her than most.
It was the first time she'd been anywhere without her parents since last fall, when she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. This rare form of bone cancer resulted in the partial amputation of Erica's right leg in January. She's recently been fitted with a prosthesis, but still needs a wheelchair or crutches for mobility.
"I was very nervous," confesses her mother, Carmela, of the outings supervised by big sister Kristin, 19.
But the Good Friday movie expedition (Kristin carried Erica to and from upper-level seating because she didn't like the wheelchair stations), and the spree at a mall the next day, were worth the worry.
"It's probably the best we've seen her in the seven months she's been ill," explains Carmela.
The weekend also included visits by a coach and student from Futures Gymnastics Centre, prompting Erica's promise to soon revisit the Mississauga facility that houses some of her best and worst memories.
A competitive gymnast since age 7, Erica had collected an impressive number of badges, medals and trophies from province-wide contests.
Last September, at a club practice, she was running to a vault when she heard a pop and a snap, followed by a sharp pain in her right thigh.
"I stepped on my good leg and sat down," she recalls. "I never cry and I was crying a little bit, so my coach knew something was wrong and called my mom."
The emergency department X-ray confirmed a break just above her right knee in the distal femur. Since there was no previous fall or collision, doctors considered it an abnormal fracture, so Erica was referred to an orthopedic pediatrician. After a week of tests, tests and more tests, she was sent to SickKids hospital for the biopsy. The result upended the Mississauga family.
"My house is a mess," says Carmela about the comfortable two-storey abode, which backs onto the Credit Valley River's nature trails.
Her crisis of vanity is misplaced. The home, which also houses Labrador Riley and cockatoo Skittles, tells the tale of a catastrophic illness: the main-floor family room turned into a bedroom, a physiotherapist's trappings are scattered about the kitchen. Upstairs, 17-year-old Kevin's bedroom is being prepped for painting, because he is trading his space for Erica's smaller one. Everywhere are cards, notes and posters from well-wishers.
Just as weighty are the things you can't see: the financial strain borne by Ron, an electrician, since Carmela, a nurse in neurosurgery, took a leave of absence from work to help see their youngest through this trauma; Kevin's unvoiced fears; Kristen's delayed year of college; Erica's broken heart at no longer being a gymnast.
"Cancer affects the whole family," Carmela says. We are in Erica's ad hoc bedroom. Weary from chemotherapy, the subdued girl listens keenly, quick to correct her mother on the rare occasions she misstates any step of their journey.
Because her primary tumour responded poorly to the three months of chemotherapy prior to surgery, Erica has to continue the treatments until August.
When the C-word was first floated, Erica says two people came to mind: a relative who survived prostate cancer and Terry Fox – she'd taken part in four Terry Fox Run fundraisers with her school.
She turned out to have the same uncommon cancer as Fox.
"I was crying because I didn't want to lose my leg," Erica says. "I didn't know if I'd be able to do stuff I always did, like walking."
But the ever-thoughtful child still managed to assemble a care package for her parents – a video message, sketches, tangerines – before the 10-hour operation to amputate her leg at the knee.
She's learning to walk with the leg prosthesis she received this month and hopes the mental and physical disciplines of gymnastics training will shorten the expected two-year recuperation. Erica badly wants to be back in school in September.
She's also looking forward to Erica's Wish, an Aug. 16 fundraising walk/run to be staged in Mississauga on her 13th birthday. It's being planned by family friends to raise awareness and research funds for osteosarcoma.
"It's going to be the biggest birthday party ever," says Carmela.
Visit events.runningroom.com for information about Erica's Wish.
Peruse the SickKids special section.
Toronto Star