Denver boy needed 16 trips for cancer treatments to Philadelphia. Enter ALSF.
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's no secret childhood cancer takes a toll on the child and also the family. That toll is physical, mental, and, unfortunately, financial. Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation tries to take some of that burden off families, especially when the cost might keep a child from getting the treatment they need.
Beaudin Larrabee is an avid speedcuber who can solve a Rubik's Cube in record time.
But right before Christmas in December 2018, he faced a puzzling situation that wasn't fun and games.
It started with what his mom Betsy Larrabee thought was a cold.
"He's got a virus, everyone is going to get it, the whole house is going to fall apart," Betsy said. "We're all going to cycle through this and we'll get over it."
But weeks went by with no improvement.
"We ran every test under the sun, the good, the bad, the ugly," Betsy said. "They could not pinpoint what was wrong with him."
Until one day in January.
"They did the daily blood work," Betsy said, "and that is when the blasts of leukemia had released from his bone marrow into his peripheral blood."
The diagnosis? Acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Beaudin's treatment began immediately.
"You have 28 days straight of steroid treatment, which usually renders most children by the first 28 days unable to walk," Betsy said. "It atrophies the muscles really significantly."
"My legs hurt," Beaudin said. "So I had to learn how to walk again."
Beaudin was a trooper and after 20 months of treatment, things seemed to be going well until routine tests revealed abnormal white blood cells in his spinal fluid.
"When you've had a test and the hospital calls you the day of," Betsy said, "it's never a good thing."
Beaudin was experiencing a relapse.
Experimental treatment near their Denver home would have cost over $1 million and wouldn't be covered by health insurance.
Fortunately, Betsy came across a clinical trial at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
There would be no cost for the treatment, but they had to travel back and forth to Philadelphia 16 times.
"Between Beaudin and I, that's 32 plane flights from Denver to Philadelphia," Betsy said, "that each cost, give or take, $500 a piece."
And that's when Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation's Travel for Care Program stepped up, covering the airfare so Beaudin could get the treatment he needed.
"Alex's Lemonade Stand reached out and said, 'What days do you need to come?'" Betsy said. "There was no back and forth, there was no further explanation of our need. It was just given."
Betsy says because of Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, she felt a sense of immediate relief.
"I'm so glad someone teamed up with me when I couldn't think straight," Betsy said, "and I couldn't answer one more logistical phone call about what needed to happen. It was just someone who came up and said, 'here you go, don't worry about it.'"
Betsy wrote a blog about the family's experiences to help other families who are coping with childhood cancer diagnosis. You can find it at www.TheHeavyWait.com.
