ISF Intern teams were challenged with creating a 7 day social media rare pediatric campaign to help raise awareness.  Each team was assigned with a designated rare cancer and responsible for conducting research, creating a storyboard and plan, developing daily educational graphics and content.

Congrats to Team Happy Feet for bringing in the win for this 2-week creative challenge.  Happy Feet provided the most detailed and organized research and planning with a good mixture of visual elements and educational detail.

Team The Curesaders Rare Pediatric Cancer Campaign: Osteosarcoma

Intern Lead:  Jack Davis, UNCC

Sunday

400. That is the number of children under the age of 20 diagnosed with Osteosarcoma every year. This week we will be sharing information and statistics about Osteosarcoma. We are also so blessed to be able to tell the story of a pediatric Osteosarcoma survivor. Osteosarcoma greatly impacts those between the ages of 10 and 30 and most greatly impacts teens. We want to highlight the story of Michael Alfers, an Osteosarcoma survivor, who was diagnosed when he was only 17. Please follow along this week as we share Michael’s story with everyone!

Monday

Everyone, please meet our Osteosarcoma warrior, Michael Alfers. He is a Charlotte native, born and raised here! He was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma when he was 17 years old as a junior in high school. Although he missed attending high school his senior year, he was still able to walk across the stage and graduate with his classmates. He has been in remission for almost 2 years now! He is now a rising junior at UNCC majoring in accounting. When he is not studying hard, he is either bowling (which he is amazing at), playing golf, or going out to play a round of frisbee golf. ⛳️🎳🥏🎗

Tuesday

March 5, 2017. This was the day that Michael Alfer’s knee pain began while practicing bowling. As a 17 year old, junior in high school, he and his family assumed it was pain caused by a sports injury. After multiple visits to Urgent Care and a Sports Medicine doctor – the pain continued and even got worse. Finally, an MRI was ordered for May 9, 2017. Upon receiving the results from the MRI, appointments were scheduled for the very next day at Levine’s, with oncologist, Dr. Jennifer Pope, and an orthopedic surgeon. The orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Joshua Patt, was the doctor to break the news to Michael that he had Osteosarcoma. A biopsy the following week confirmed the diagnosis. The next few days were filled with various baseline testing (hearing tests, echo cardiogram, MRI), the biopsy, and a port being surgically put in. Chemo began that following Thursday, and the chemo therapy regiment that has been used for 40 years to treat this type of cancer was the course of action for Michael. These photos are just a small look at Michael’s time in treatment, but Michael used humor to push through the tough times. His family still quotes his surgeon telling him to “just throw your leg out there” from when he was learning to walk again after his leg salvage surgery, implanting a titanium piece to replace his knee and a large part of his femur. That gave him the confidence to try harder- and it worked! If you have any words of encouragement for Michael or those fighting Osteosarcoma, please leave them in the comments! 🎗🩺💟

Wednesday

We also wanted to highlight the people that were with Michael on his Osteosarcoma battle. Michael’s family, mom, Sharyn, dad, Bill, brother, Matthew, and sister, Nicole, were there through his entire cancer journey. They made sure he was never fighting alone. His mom said, “You never expect that your child is going to be diagnosed with cancer, it’s earth shattering when you hear those words. Michael’s faith in God and trust in his doctors, combined with his positive attitude and sense of humor, guided him through his battle with Osteosarcoma. He was determined to overcome this fight and win the battle. Our family is forever grateful for all of the doctors, nurses, physical therapists and medical staff that joined us in this battle. He endured pain that most of us will never experience, and it was heartbreaking to see. Michael is a true warrior, our hero.” 🌟💜🎗

Thursday

You all are probably wondering how Michael, our amazing Osteosarcoma warrior, is doing now… Michael is doing fantastic! He has follow up oncology visits every three months, along with appointments to see his surgeon and cardiologist to make sure everything is looking good. He returned to competitive youth bowling tournaments in the spring of 2018, only four months after completing chemo! He keeps getting better and better in competitive bowling. Also, he is doing wonderful and studying hard at college at UNCC. He aspires to be a professional bowler.🎗🎳

Friday

Michael wanted to share some advice with those fighting Osteosarcoma or any other illnesses. He wanted people to know, “Always try to keep a positive attitude. There is light at the end of the tunnel!” and “Take it one day at a time and try to do everything in your power that will help beat osteosarcoma.” Michael kept an extremely positive attitude through his entire diagnosis and treatment and continues to keep his head up high. He wants people to understand the power of a positive attitude and how a smile, laugh, and a bit of humor in the hard times can go a very long way. Thank you Michael for being so awesome and being so brave I’m telling your story to help others.💜🎗

Saturday

After following Michael’s Osteosarcoma journey, we need your help to continue this conversation and battle! We want and need more survival stories like Michael’s and it is with the help of others that we can achieve the goal of eradicating pediatric cancer. Children with rare pediatric cancer should never fight alone and need others to advocate on their behalf, so please do what you can to help by donating to ISF, registering for the ISF virtual 5k, and continue fighting on the behalf of these amazing kids!

Below are samples of  Team The Curesaders campaign graphics.