A fall at school led to Columbus dancer’s cancer diagnosis. This is Lexy’s comeback story
What seemed like a ho-hum fall during a gym class two years ago led to a diagnosis that likely saved Lexy McRae’s life.
In October 2019, Lexy was a thriving fifth-grader, excelling in dance among her many activities in Columbus. She slipped on the basketball court at North Columbus Elementary School, but the accident didn’t cause concern until her right upper arm couldn’t support her weight during dance class.
Lexy’s mother, Katy, took her to an after-hours clinic, where an X-ray didn’t uncover the problem. They were referred to an orthopedist, who said it was a bone cyst. Katy suspected something more serious and pushed for an MRI.
The lab results came in a email:
“Osteosarcoma. Seek medical attention. Follow up with biopsy,” the message said.
As Lexy perseveres through this crisis, the McRaes told the Ledger-Enquirer they cherish their blessings and their community’s support. They also are grateful for Lexy’s healthcare, combining with her firm faith and positive attitude to achieve her dancing comeback — and even have a sneaker named after her.
Osteosarcoma diagnosis
The American Cancer Society says osteosarcoma is the most common type of cancer that starts in the bones.
“It was scary because you don’t know what’s going to happen next,” Katy said. “But we are a family that believes in God, and so we have really relied on our faith.”
Lexy’s pediatrician, Dr. Donna Yeiser, sent them to the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in Egleston Hospital. A biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. Three lesions also were found in her lungs.
Reflecting on the whirlwind of events, Katy concluded, “If she had not fallen, we would not have caught it in time. … God’s timing, He allowed her to have a little bit of pain to prevent our family from a whole lot of pain.”
Dr. Megan Brown, a pediatric hematologist and oncologist at the center, said, “With osteosarcoma, it is often found because of some unrelated injury that draws attention to something children probably haven’t been aware of.”
That’s why Dr. Brown advises parents, “When you’re concerned that something is wrong, … trust your parental intuition.”
When she heard the diagnosis, Lexy leaped into her mother’s lap and told her, “Don’t worry. It’s going to be fine.”
“God’s got this,” she added.
Lexy, now 12 and a seventh-grader at Rainey-McCullers School of the Arts, explained the source of such confidence.
“God gives His toughest battles to His strongest people,” she said.
Hearing that mature message from her daughter, Katy gushed with pride.
“As young as she is, her faith was going to sustain her,” Katy said. “And not only was it going to sustain her, but through her, it was going to sustain us.”
Chemotherapy and limb-salvage surgery
Her prognosis was so dire, Lexy received 2-3 years’ worth of chemotherapy in eight months. The three-drug chemo was so brutal, she had to be hospitalized 3-7 days for each infusion. Side effects, including fever and ulcers, were so bad, she needed intravenous nutrition because she couldn’t eat.
Lexy spent weeks in the hospital for blood transfusions, antibiotics, pain relievers and anti-nausea medication.
“I still can’t believe I went through chemo,” she said. “I was trying the whole time to be myself.”
In February 2020, Lexy underwent what’s known as limb-salvage surgery. A surgeon removed her cancerous humerus and replaced it with a cadaver bone from a donor, a titanium plate and 12 screws.
The surgery required all her muscles from her shoulder to her elbow to be severed and reattached. Some muscle permanently was removed to ensure cancer-free margins.
Good news and bad news followed the operation: A biopsy showed the chemotherapy was working well and killing the cancer, but the surgery was so extensive, Lexy wasn’t expected to regain full range of motion in her right arm. The best they could hope for, they were told, would be raising it no more than 15 degrees.
As a competitive dancer, this was heartbreaking for Lexy, but she was determined to prove the prognosis wrong.
After 23 chemo treatments, three surgeries and more than 120 nights in the hospital, Lexy traveled to Atlanta for weekly occupational and physical therapy.
“It’s not too bad,” Katy said. “We got to have extra mom-and-me time.”
Lexy made her mom laugh when she smirked, “A little too much.”
Now, she has regained around 90% of the motion in her right arm. She will continue with the occupational and physical therapy to strengthen the weakened muscles that sometimes make even holding a pencil difficult.
Performance Dance Centre
Even when Lexy’s cancer surgery and treatments caused her to be too weak to dance Katy took her to Performance Dance Centre in Columbus so she could hang out with her friends and watch them practice.
Lexy also watched videos and looked at photos of herself dancing as motivation to do what she could to return. Despite fatigue from chemo, she sometimes practiced dancing between her treatments by attending dance classes via videoconference.
“Just you wait,” she told herself. “I’ll be back.”
Being healthy and strong enough to return to dancing and her friends at Performance Dance Centre has been “the best therapy” for Lexy, said Katy, who works as one of the six instructors for the more than 150 students at the studio.
Her comeback culminated in a performance during the dance festival May 29 on an outdoor stage at Harley-Davidson of Columbus.
“I’m excited and so ready to be back,” Lexy said. “It makes me proud of how far I’ve come since 2019. It makes me feel strong to be dancing. I’m so thankful I get to go back to doing what I love.”
“Seeing her back on stage brought me to tears,” Katy said.
Carrie Paris, owner and artistic director of Performance Dance Centre, described Lexy as “a fireball. … We’ve missed her.”
Dance classes sent Lexy get-well videos to cheer her up. They sold “LexyStrong” bracelets to support the McRaes as well.
“It really showed us how tight we are,” Paris said. “We kind of rallied together. Our instructors here were extremely kind in stepping up and covering things. There wasn’t one time I had to ask really anything. Everyone was pretty much helping.”
Without relatives living in the Columbus area, the McRaes have been “very blessed” by the support from friends at the dance studio and their church, The Ridge, Katy said.
“Lots of people have loved on us and carried us through it,” she said. “… Our church and dance family had food on the doorstep when we needed it, toilet paper when we needed it.”
Having supporters to lift their spirit is critical for cancer patients and their families, Dr. Brown said. She recalled an example from when Lexy was hospitalized to treat a complication from chemotherapy.
“She was feeling pretty crummy when she came in,” Dr. Brown said. “... She was telling me some of the dance tricks that she had been cleared to do.”
Then she demonstrated — right there in her hospital room.
“I could just see that light that surrounds her really start to glow despite all the medical things that were going on,” Dr. Brown said. “So she just really was able to push herself within the context of what she was allowed to do in her therapy to really heal and be able to dance much quicker than I think any of the physicians had seen before.”
Giving back
Despite her pain and fear, Lexy has been determined to help others along the way.
Before her first cancer treatment, she cut and donated her hair to have a wig made for another child. While she was hospitalized, she sent notes and handmade presents to other patients. She also made posters with encouraging words and taped them to their door.
After her chemotherapy, Lexy teamed with the Good Works Project to boost the spirit of patients by making them Halloween goody bags and giving them toys and art supplies for Christmas.
Lexy became a Rally Kid, a childhood cancer advocate with the Rally Foundation, which supports families during treatment and funds research. She helped raise money for a grant. In honor of her volunteering, a clinical trial to use gene therapy as a cure for osteosarcoma at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston is sponsored by Rally in Lexy’s name. And the doctor running the trial has a photo of her on his desk, Katy said.
“So, because she’s gone through it,” Katy said, “maybe one day another child won’t have to.”
A few of the friends Lexy met in the hospital died from osteosarcoma.
“I want it to be gone and be able to be stopped so nobody has to lose a friend like that,” Lexy said.
Lexy continues to find ways to thrive and use her story to benefit others. Through a partnership with the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, she is one of five patients who helped design a limited-edition Saucony sneaker named after them.
Hers is called the Lexy Kinvara 12. The Run For Good Children’s Program will donate 20% from every sale to their children’s hospital or a charity of their choice.
“That’s the great thing about being at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta,” Katy said. “They are incredibly uplifting, and they are going to exhaust every avenue that they have to save these kids.”
Perspective and advice
The McRaes have focused on seeking and appreciating goodness even amid the madness and sadness of cancer.
“We’ve met a lot of amazing people,” Katy said. “We’re not going to say, ‘Why us?’ … Why not us? But what we can say is, ‘Where can we find the blessings? Where can we step in and be thankful for those glimmers and those silver linings?’”
Such as, Lexy added, “I don’t take my friends for granted.”
Katy offered advice for anyone trying to overcome hardship.
“Don’t sweat the small stuff,” she said. “It’s a cliche, but you really do learn to just ask, ‘Does it matter in five minutes? Does it matter in five days? Does it matter in five months. Does it matter in five years?’ If the answer is no to any of those, then let it go.”
Lexy suggested, “Just keep going. There’s really no reason to stop and break yourself apart for something that could happen. Yes, you sometimes need to sit down and help yourself. But if you make it stop you from doing what you love, there’s no reason to do that. If you believe in God or Jesus, pray — that’s what I did — and dance on.”
The McRaes faced another scare this summer. Doctors found another lesion in one of Lexy’s lungs and removed it June 18. Three weeks later, the medical tests showed she was in the clear. She will continue her physical therapy for strength and endurance, plus scans every three months to ensure she remains cancer-free.
“She’s battled cancer beautifully,” Katy said. “She’s been brave, courageous, determined, stubborn, hardheaded and everything else a 12-year-old girl could and should be. She’s held tight to her faith. She’s uplifted those around her and inspired change. We could not be prouder of her.”
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
