Hello I am Arie Fitzhugh I am an 18 year old high school senior in Chandler Arizona at Seton Catholic Preparatory High School. I began my senior year in August last year in 2010 just like I have every year getting back into the swing of school life.
In September a tumor in my left arm that I thought was just a torn muscle, started hurting extremely bad so I went to the ER and they also thought it was just a torn muscle. A week later on Friday I had an MRI and they discovered that it was a tumor in my arm.
Three days later on Monday I had a biopsy surgery on the tumor to test to see what was going on in my arm. Later in the week the results from the biopsy revealed that the tumor in my arm was cancerous. The doctor told me that I had Rhabdomyosarcoma which is a type of children’s soft tissue cancer. Rhabdomyosarcoma accounts for about 4% of all childhood cancers and there are on average 250 new cases each year in the United States.
Since then I have had a port catheter put in my chest, I have been undergoing Chemotherapy once a week which is scheduled to be done in August, I had the tumor completely removed on December 20 th , I just finished up 28 days Radiation a few weeks ago, and while I am writing this I actually have appendicitis which I am on antibiotics for. I will be having my appendix removed in a few weeks. Because of all these things I have listed above I have been doing all of my school work at my house since mid September, I will be graduating on May 19 th and if my health permits I will be attending Chandler-Gilbert Community College for the fall semester to start on getting a business degree. I am writing to you the Nicki Leach Foundation asking if you could generously give a donation to me for a laptop I will need for my studies in college next year. My parents have many medical bills and it would be one less expense for them to worry about. Thanks for considering me for this donation.
Sincerely,
Arie Fitzhugh Thank you very much for this helping me in this way. This money will help me alot with paying for my school.