Sophie: Beating Pediatric Cancer and Giving Back

At 8 years old, it’s pretty normal to play rough with your little brother. But when Sophie got off the school bus and was playfully head-butted in the stomach, she was suddenly in the worst pain of her life.

In the emergency room, an ultrasound showed nothing wrong with her stomach, but doctors thought they saw a mass further down. From there, Sophie went to Children’s Minnesota where a CT scan detected a 9 cm tumor on her ovary. This type of tumor — that Sophie lovingly named “Fred” — is usually benign, meaning not cancerous, but after testing, Sophie’s tumor came back cancerous.

HOPE, more than just a cancer survivor program

After diagnosis, Sophie had her left ovary removed and began chemotherapy treatment — one week on and two weeks off. Once she completed chemo, Sophie was considered cancer-free.

Shortly after treatment, Sophie and her family moved to Colorado and transferred her care to Children’s Hospital Colorado. Here, her treatment team found a second tumor, this time on her right ovary. In April of 2018, our experts quickly removed the second tumor and again, pronounced Sophie cancer-free.

Sophie joined our HOPE Cancer and Bone Marrow Transplantation Survivorship Program, a multidisciplinary clinic that offers guidance and support for kids and young adults for long-term follow-up care. There, Sophie could talk about any lingering symptoms she had, get support and resources for cancer survivorship and get help transitioning to adult care.

Now, 9 years later, Sophie is a bustling 17-year-old who loves to give back to her cancer-fighting community.

“I want to help kids in the same way that I’ve been helped,” says Sophie.

Giving back to her cancer survivor community

Between loads of schoolwork and earning college credits, Sophie volunteers at our North Campus in the Creative Help Center, spending time with siblings of patients during their appointments. And in the summer, Sophie’s favorite place to volunteer is Camp Courage, a no-cost summer camp for children with cancer and their siblings designed to provide coping skills for living with cancer.

“Camp Courage was one of the most life-changing things I’ve done,” says Sophie. “Nothing can stop me from volunteering there.”

In the fall, Sophie will attend Colorado State University and plans to be a child life specialist when she graduates. But before she leaves high school, Sophie is giving back to her community one more time through a fundraising event she created called, “From Wish Kid to Wish Kid.” Once a Make a Wish recipient herself, Sophie is raising money with her school’s winter formal to ensure another child like her can have the experience of a lifetime.

“Her diagnosis is something that happened, but it shaped the wonderful person that she is,” says Sophie’s mom, Amanda.

And we’d love to see this wonderful person back here at Children’s Colorado — not as a patient, but as an amazing child life specialist.