Nonprofit helps Orange County family navigate rare childhood cancer
The Stockwells of San Clemente are five years into their son Gavin's battle with two cancers, including a rare bone sarcoma.
"To hear your son has months left to live is devastating, and to have to explain that to a 12-year-old is heartbreaking," mom Sonya Stockwell said.
While they don't live in Ladera Ranch, a community focused on recent childhood cancers, they hope that the attention the disease is getting will help all families fighting to save their children.
"There needs to be more research," Stockwell said. "There needs to be better treatments. We're lacking in that. I mean, to be told there are no options and we're the only people to hear that."
Stockwell said things changed when she met Candy Hammeras, who runs the nonprofit Cancer Teamwork Response. It's free guidance for patients that's supported by donors. The mission is to help them navigate their healthcare journey, access specialists and provide hope. Hammeras is working with Ladera Ranch families and many others.
"The focus has been on this environmental issue, which is very important," Hammeras said. "But these families are real human families dealing with the cancer, and I have six or seven patients with sarcoma in LA. It's not just here in that one area, it's everywhere."
For Gavin, who is now 15, the shift to a new specialist offering a different treatment was a pivotal decision. His mom said scans showed no evidence of the disease.
"He goes in every two months for an infusion, but he's doing great," Stockwell said. "He does CrossFit. He skateboards, snowboards hangs out with his friends all the time. He's learning to drive."
