ABSTRACT
TYRELL DUECK HAD JUST TURNED thirteen in October 1998 when he slipped in the shower, hurting his right knee.1 His parents thought the persistent pain was probably the result of a growth spurt or an old soccer injury, but when the knee refused to heal, they consulted their family physician. The doctor, suspecting that Tyrell had cancer, immediately referred him to the Cancer Centre at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In late November, pediatric oncologist Christopher Mpofu delivered the diagnosis: osteogenic sarcoma. Because this type of cancer spreads rapidly and relentlessly, Mpofu recommended an equally aggressive course of treatment: chemotherapy to shrink the tumor, followed by surgery, probably a midthigh amputation. Mpofu believed that swift and decisive intervention would give Tyrell a 65 percent chance of survival, but without treatment, the teenager would die within a year.
