Max Spartacus Kleckner is a brave six-year-old boy who has been fighting cancer since July 4, 2008 when he was just four-years old. Max was diagnosed with stage 4 rhabdomyosarcoma, an extremely rare and aggressive cancer that had spread from a tumor in his head to his bone marrow. He underwent a year of chemotherapy and radiation and continues to be treated with premium-grade immunotherapy and alternative medicines. Max enjoyed a magical normal kid year after treatment before the cancer relapsed. Max’s family strongly believes in healing the entire person, physically, spiritually and emotionally and—with the help of his friends, family and the Cardiff community — have showered Max with love, fun, and a stress-free environment. We banded together to support the Kleckner family once before, and we hope that you will join us again to help this brave little boy beat this cancer, once and for all!!!
Avatar Max completed his stem cell harvest in 2days, 6.4million cells. We get to go home for two days and Max feels great which makes our whole world a happy place. Next up is surgery in 2 days to remove the dreaded aphaeresis catheter, good riddance tubes, hello swimming, hello summer. Well at least a bit of summer, next round of chemo starts the day after surgery. 
Posted on 28 July '10 by admin, under News. No Comments.
Max harvested 3.5million stem cells yesterdy and has another 1.5mil to go. The stem cell harvest is done the same way the t-cells were harvested at the national cancer institute; an aphaeresis machine sucks all his blood thru a centrifuge. We are banking the stem cells now while he is strong with the hope to never need them; stem cell transplants are extremely harsh and risky, they are a last line of defense.
The first round of chemo went as well as can be expected with 6 straight days of IV infusion of Ifosfamide, Etoposide and all the supporting meds and fluids. On the 4th day Max had such severe abdominal pain that they had to give him morphine to get through the night. After chemo Max had a few days of nausea and throwing up before starting to feel better. He hit his nadir (blood counts close to zero) on day 9 and he started to approach a fever, he managed to stay just under 101deg so we were able to keep him home for another day. His counts started to soar the next morning, just in time for a good stem cell harvest.
The most difficult part by far of this first round of chemo has been the shots, daily GCSF shots to boost Max’s white blood cells; Mark and I have to administer the shots. This part of our day really sucks! Max is sitting in the hospital now playing the Wii, all smiles and fun. The weather outside is gloomy and grey, he believes that the summer sunshine is waiting for him.
Posted on 27 July '10 by admin, under News. No Comments.
Although the surgeons were successful on their part of the tumor resection, Max’s oncologist was left to deliver the bad news that cancer tissue remained in an inoperable area of his head. The post op MRI shows that the cancer has invaded Max’s cavernous sinus, this is a tunnel into his skull, a small space that holds 7 major nerves and the carotid artery.
We went to the UCSD Moors cancer center yesterday to start Radiation engineering for Max to receive another 6weeks of radiation. Since this area has already received a maximum safe dose of radiation the odds go up exponentially that their will be damage to his optic nerve, carotid artery, and/or the nerves that control facial movement. The effects could be immediate or within the next few years.
On Monday Max had surgery to place a semi-permanent aphaeresis catheter that will be used to do a stemcell harvest, these cells will be banked for future transplants if needed. Max started chemotherapy yesterday and after about 4 hours he began to fade and feel cruddy and then slept for 15hrs. Poor little guy, it breaks my heart to sit here and watch him go through so much. He woke up this morning bright eyed and happy. 
Last weekend we crashed Dan and Sydney’s annual family reunion on the east coast at Rehoboth beach. Max had a great time with Syd at the beach and rode all the rides at fun land. Back on the west coast on Sunday Max had a surf lesson with his favorite instructor and buddies. As for me, I’m trying to keep working which isn’t easy but Qualcomm is allowing me work an intermittent as needed schedule which is really helpful. Mark has been going home everyday to take care of the pets but spending a most of his time at the hospital. He is redecorating the hospital room, brought in his big computer with some fancy software so he can watch our DVR from our home cable box, not sure how it works but its great. He also brought in the Wii and a lounge chair. I had to put the brakes on and limit the remodel to ensure we can get it all home in one car load. Some things never change, gotta love him for it.
Posted on 14 July '10 by admin, under News. No Comments.
Max was biten by a vampire yesterday, at least that’s his story. He was punctured in his jugular and all his blood was sucked out. We are in Maryland this week to enter Max into a clinical trial at the National Cancer Institute. The trial doesn’t actually start until Max has completed approx 8mo of chemo and has no evidence of disease. The researchers will attempt to make a custom vaccine that will train Max’s t-cells to fight his cancer cells from the tissue that was resected 2weeks ago.
Max had a tube surgically implanted into his jugular and then via aphaeresis his blood siphoned through a centrifuge to extract his T-cells. It’s quite disturbing to watch all his blood leaving his body and rolling around a big machine before being put back in. The puncture site was pretty painful for Max to deal with and the entire procedure took 15hrs. Another brutal day for the Kleck family that we are glad to have behind us.
Max had a great 4th of July. It was hard to believe that only 11 days after surgery into his skull he was at the beach boogie boarding like a kamikaze, then at La Costa for kid jumpy’s followed by firworks with all his buddies. What an amazing kid. This weekend we will be taking Max to Rehoboth beach with Dan and Syd to try out the east coast beaches. Next week more surgery, scans, and chemo starts.
Posted on 8 July '10 by admin, under News. No Comments.
Home sweet home. Its hard to believe the extremes and the torture that Max has been through, harder to believe how resilient he is. Home just 3days after neuro and head surgery, amazing. When he first woke only an hour after surgery and wanted that tube out and fought hard for it, I was so relieved to see it was him, that his brain had not been damaged, my Max was fully intact.
The days after surgery were filled with all forms of torture that no child should ever go through. The first morning after surgery they xray’d Max and found that the central line (high flow IV into an artery in his chest) had been placed to deep and can cause heart arrhythmia so it needed to be moved. This was done while Max was awake and entailed removing stitches, moving the line and re-stitching him. It was agonizing pain for him. The resulting stitches were placed in too tight and caused severe pain all day. One of Max’s neurosurgeons came by and volunteered to remove the worst stitch. She tried with the standard tools but it was too tight so she ended up using scalpel to cut it out. This was only the beginning of the pokes, prods and pulls that continued over the next few days. Right up to the end, several nurses spent an hour trying to remove the final two stitches of his central line before they gave up and just left a stitch in for someone else to deal with next week. Max, Mark and I were completely wet with sweat from the torturous episodes. Max has been traumatized from the years of pokes and prods that he has been through, Im not sure how we will get through the years ahead. Not sure how he will get through the removal of the stitches in his head next week, the staples in his head the week after, the aphaeresis catheter placement and blood harvest coming up, the chemo, the stem cell harvest………This is only the beginning of the journey. 
Despite the hell we went through there was also so much support and kindness from friends and from the medical staff. Patty had our nurse friends all ready to go to give Max VIP treatment and the best of care (and to bring me lots of Starbucks). Dr Armene who interrupted her surgery schedule to race down to the MRI and remove Max’s drain from his head while he was anesthetized so we could avoid another traumatic session. Dr Levy and Dr Weisman for doing a great job and returning my hero back to me intact.
Posted on 26 June '10 by admin, under News. No Comments.
The surgery took 8 hours and went well. The neurosurgeon was able to make a clean resection and the tumor had not entered into his brain dura, this is great news. The head and neck surgeon removed the bulk of the tumor cleanly, it was a little fuzzy where it spread into the infra fossa muscle that controls chewing so he removed a portion of that muscle as well. He removed the visible cancer tissue and now recommends spot radiation and chemo to treat any remaining cancer cells.
Max went into the PICU for recovery and began fighting immediately. We expected him to be intabated over night but he woke up immediately and wanted the breathing tube out. The extabation process takes a while but Max did great, and so did dad, he really helped Max get through it. Right after that he asked for a slurpy but settled for a popsicle. He is sleeping calmly now. His vitals are strong enough that they will move him from the PICU to the intermediate care unit today, it will be another long day of removing nasty tubes, IV’s, catheter and a drain, just amazing how many. Max is being so brave and strong.
Posted on 23 June '10 by admin, under News. No Comments.
We are still trying to schedule the surgery to resect the tumor before it grows into Max’s brain cavity. Aligning a head/neck cancer surgeon with a pediatric neurosurgeon appears to be impossible, I am frustrated beyond belief. We are hoping for a cancellation in the next few weeks so that they can squeeze Max in. Tic Toc. We are also contacting other facilities. I keep wondering if this is a sign, maybe the surgery isnt meant to be. I really don’t want to go through with it, but I do believe that it is necessary.
“Embrace the suck” was the motto given by a US soldier on how to deal with the harsh situations in the Afghan war. Our neighbor/author Eric Blhem was inspired when interviewing a soldier about his focus on the positive, no matter how small, even a dry spot under the brim of his hat in a torrential rain storm, just to get him through the night. When we told Max that the cancer was back, he was pretty upset about all the needles and shots ahead, but then decided to focus on something that makes him happy, he gets to be bald again. Yes, happy to be bald. Max’s favorite super hero is the Avatar, the Last Air Bender. A tv animated series about a child monk that is bald, he has super powers and has to save the world from the evil. Max will get to be just like the Avatar now. So, like Max, we continue to embrace the suck, to focus on the good things in our lives.
Heres a few pics of our fun trip to Hawaii.
Posted on 10 June '10 by admin, under News. No Comments.
Despite our extreme efforts to conquer this beast with love, fun and the best alternative meds and immune therapy that money can buy, the tumor in Max’s head has continued to grow. This aggressive cancer has grown 6mm since his scans in April, now 2.5cm x 1.5cm and is pushing up towards his brain cavity. Its game on time, time to let the doctors do there thing. A team of surgeons is gathering and planning his surgery, we are just waiting for them to say go.
Posted on 1 June '10 by admin, under News. No Comments.
Max’s 12mo scans came back with some potentially bad news. The tumor seems to have grown and is displaying some metabolic activity. Max has been through several scans and tests these past few weeks and over the next few weeks he will go through more. With each round of tests we continue to raise our hopes for good news but so far it hasn’t come. It’s hard to believe or accept that the cancer is back, it’s just too difficult to go there. The science and technology is not exact, there is room for error. Denial or hope?
This week the tumor board, surgeon and oncologists met. If the tumor is active, Max’s oncologist recommends a potentially risky tumor removal, a year of very aggressive chemo followed by another year of maintenance chemo. This plan is filled with risks, a poor quality of life and a poor prognosis of success.
Next week Max will undergo a bone marrow aspiration to see if any cancer is in his bones. Mark and I will be meeting with the local surgeon to hear his plan if the tumor is active. In two weeks we will repeat the MRI and PET scan for a more definitive answer on tumor activity. If the cancer is back, Dr Kim will contact St. Judes for information on clinical trials and a possible experimental cancer vaccination. She will also explore using a gamma knife for noninvasive tumor removal and to MD Anderson about surgical options. Nothing will happen immediately. We are increasing the health and supplement plan, hoping that his body will take charge, hoping for a miracle.
Today, we have a super fun, happy and energetic kid. He melts my heart when he smiles, he is so cuddly and loving, he is such a great kid.
Posted on 30 April '10 by admin, under News. No Comments.
Posted on 4 January '10 by admin, under News. No Comments.
© 2007 Max Spartacus