Lexie Castillow
SENIOR / GREENWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
CHI ST. VINCENT HEALTH AWARD
Steven herald Castillow multiple had surgeries, no idea a cancer his child’s diagnosis tearful and tumble four at years home of plate chemotherapy. would He said he was shocked when doctors told him his daughter, Lexie Castillow, would never play softball again. “It was just devastating,” Steven said. “You have a 12-year-old child sitting there who’s a very athletic individual with all these hopes and dreams of playing college ball and being told that it’s done; it’s over — it floors you.” Despite the grave prognosis, Lexie persevered, continuing to play softball and even picking up a new sport after the diagnosis. Now a senior at Greenwood High School, she looks forward to playing college volleyball. Her determination to overcome adversity earned her the CHI St. Vincent Health Award. “Once again, our team was in awe at the stories of each of our nominees, as we consider all of them our health care heroes,” said Chad Aduddell, chief executive officer of CHI St. Vincent. “Ultimately, Lexie was selected for the award based on her inspirational story.” When Lexie started softball at age 4, her father was her first coach. At 10, she and her team were running bases during practice when Steven noticed something was wrong. “She was at home plate, so she took off running like normal,” he said. “Once she passed first base, I noticed something looked awkward, the way she was running. When she got to second base, you could tell there was a limp, and when she got to third base, it was really bad. By the time she got to home plate, she hit the ground and was crying.” An orthopedic doctor conducted an X-ray and told Lexie she had a simple bone cyst under her right kneecap. After a month on crutches, she was beginning to practice again when she returned to the doctor for a follow-up exam. By then, the lump had grown from the size of a dime to the size of a lemon, Steven said. Lexie went to Arkansas Children’s, where doctors determined she had giant-cell tumor of the bone, he said. According to an article published in The Archives of Bone and Joint Surgery, “giant cell tumors are benign tumors with potential for aggressive behavior and capacity to metastasize.” Metastases, in which cancerous cells spread to other parts of the body, occurs in 1 to 9 percent of patients with giant cell tumors, the article states. Doctors removed Lexie’s tumor and used a bone graft to rebuild her kneecap, Steven said, but when she returned to the hospital for a cleanup surgery a year later, doctors made a fateful discovery.
The wrapping tumor around had returned the back with of her a vengeance, knee. Doctors destroying removed her the kneecap remains and of the kneecap, along with the tumor, leaving Lexie without a right kneecap. Steven said he knew something was wrong 30 minutes into the surgery, when a doctor came into the waiting room and sat down to deliver the terrible news — Lexie’s ballgame days were over. “I told him, ‘Well, I’m not telling her that — you are,’” Steven said. “He told her the next day, after surgery and stuff, and she just wasn’t going to have any of it.” Lexie decided to continue her athletic career with her father’s support. After six months of physical therapy, during which she learned how to bend her knee again, she eased back into sports with basketball before starting volleyball at age 12. “I’ve always been naturally athletic all my life,” she said. “I knew there was something special there, and I knew it could take me places. I wasn’t going to let [cancer] win.” Her condition took a turn for the worse when the tumor metastasized, spreading to her lungs. At 13, Lexie had part of her right lower lobe and an upper mass on her left lung removed, Steven said, but small tumors remained in her lungs. “It’s something that will definitely take a toll on you when you have a child that has a disease that nobody knows the outcome of,” Steven said. “You go through so many different emotions at any given point in time. It’s just up and down, up and down, and it’s like you’re walking on pins and needles all the time, trying to cope with it.” He added that he dealt with his daughter’s diagnosis by researching her condition online, eventually finding out about a chemotherapy drug called Xgeva that had recently been approved to treat giant-cell tumor of the bone. “I think that was a miracle that I came across that,” Steven said, adding that he and his daughter’s Christian beliefs helped them through the ordeal. “She put all her faith in God that she could beat this. She put it in his hands, and she did everything she was told to do — what to do, how
I’VE ALWAYS BEEN NATURALLY ATHLETIC ALL MY LIFE. I knew there was something special there, and I knew it could take me places. I wasn’t going to let [cancer] win.” — Lexie Castillow, CHI ST. VINCENT HEALTH AWARD RECIPIENT
to do things — and has just overcome and beat the odds.” Jennifer Golden, head varsity volleyball coach at Greenwood High School, said Lexie never missed a game because of treatments and continued to play as hard as she could during practice, even when the medication left her nauseated and exhausted. “Lexie is probably a coach’s dream as a player,” Golden said. “She’s always going to be there for her team. She’s going to be there for her coaches. She’s not going to make any excuses.” An honor student, Lexie also remained active in school, taking on leadership roles in clubs such as the Future Business Leaders of America, Beta Club and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She also helps Golden coach seventh-grade volleyball. Lexie took Xgeva once a month for four years, a year longer than the Food and Drug Administration recommends, Steven said, adding that she recently tapered off the medication. Although small tumors remain in her lungs, he said, doctors are monitoring her condition to make sure the tumors do not grow. “We’re just keeping a close eye on everything to make sure nothing changes, hoping that she can stay off [the medication],” he added. “Her doctors are just floored.” Lexie said she is honored to cap off her high school career with this award, which she hopes will propel her into her college volleyball journey at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. She said she plans to become a coach and is majoring in education. She also plans to minor in speech because she became interested in motivational speaking after sharing her story for FCA events. “I love the feeling of winning, obviously, but I also love that when I go places, I can inspire people as well. Faith is another big thing that I’ve shared,” she said. “I’m able to share my story with other people, and I don’t know where they stand with God, but I can give them a little bit of my testimony, and then I just love playing the sport, too.” Aduddell said that Lexie’s desire to inspire others — in addition to her success in both athletics and academics, despite calamitous circumstances — helped set her apart as this year’s CHI St. Vincent Health Award recipient. “When confronted with cancer, she defied the odds and overcame her disease, all while continuing to perform at a high level in athletics — in both volleyball and softball — and in the classroom,” he said. “In addition, Lexie is using her disease as a platform to share her story of faith and resiliency.”