Help our hero win his ongoing battle against life threatening cancer.
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!!!
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.
2009 was a year of tears and joy for the Young-Kleckner family. We are starting 2010 with a wonderful gift, our little super hero Max’s latest scans came back clear. 9months cancer free. 2010 promises to be an awesome year. Best wishes to all of our wonderful friends and family for a happy and healthy 2010. Go Spartacus!
Posted on 4 January '10 by admin, under News. No Comments.
Max’s multi-daily routine to give his body the best fighting chance; integrative meds, supplements, anitbiotics, eye steroids, patch therapy…
Posted on 26 October '09 by admin, under News. No Comments.
Max had his 6month post chemo scans last week and they came back all clear. Such a relief! Dr Kim was thrilled to see how well Max is doing. We are very encouraged and cautiously optimistic.
Max will continue to get scans every 3months for two years, then it will go to every 4months. After 5years the confidence level goes up and the scans will go to annual, still a LONG way to go. We continue with all the daily supplements, about 30 a day, clean water, air…healthy life as much as possible….and most important lots of love and fun. Go Spartacus!
Posted on 1 October '09 by admin, under News. No Comments.
Max started kindergarten today, what a happy day. We are so fortunate that Cardiff elementary is such a magical little school and that Max will have such a wonderful experience. Max has so many buddies in school with him and his teacher Ms Stone is wonderful.
Our summer 09 post cancer treatment has been 5% pain in the booty high maintenance supplements and meds, 5% dr and hospital appointments, 5% worrying if the beast is still within and 85% LOVE and FUN. We are truly happy and continue to enjoy each moment with Max to the fullest. Go Spartacus!
Posted on 1 September '09 by admin, under News. No Comments.
Max continues to conquer the bad guys, his bone scan and chest CT scan this week came back clear. Max has been off chemo for almost 4months now and he is getting so strong and healthy.
This past month has been a summer to remember; we started it off with an RV vacation with buddies along to add to the fun, discovery camp at the Y, swimming lessons, the Del Mar fair, Cardiff elementary summer camp with his old preschool buddies, surf camp, lots long sunny days on the beach and a massive 4th of July celebration that marked 1yr since his diagnosis. With this latest good news, the fun summer continues and it will be 3months before the next round of scans. Go Spartacus!
Posted on 23 July '09 by admin, under News. No Comments.
Scar Tissue! The latest biopsy came back all scar tissue and the MRI showed again that the mass is stable in size. Yahoo!!! Now it’s really time for champagne. It’s going to be a great summer focusing on fun and health. 
Dr Jenny delivered the great news with caution that the biopsy is only a small snapshot of the mass and she is still concerned that the cancer can take hold in other places in his body, so we will continue to do frequent scans and test. For now we are very optimistic and so happy. Go Spartacus!
Posted on 18 June '09 by admin, under News. No Comments.
3 families in one RV? We really do like each other a lot. We had a great whirlwind vacation with some great friends to the Grand Canyon, Sedona and Lake Havasu. Lots of laughs and adventure. It was great to go a entire week with no TV or video games, just lots of big and little kid fun.
Last time I wrote we were facing a rough decision to start another year of chemo. Well we decided that the results were not conclusive enough to put Max’s body through another year of poison so we have chosen to wait a month and repeat the MRI and the biopsy. We are hoping for some good news later this week.
Posted on 16 June '09 by admin, under News. No Comments.
