Against the odds

Defeat is not an option in the Gostowski household. That's the motto Tracey Gostowski and her two children, Aaron and Amber, follow every day.

Aaron Gostowski was diagnosed with the cancer germinoma on June 4, 2005. After complications from several surgeries and a car accident in October, the 13-year-old knows his family's motto well.

The costs of Aaron's medical treatments have left a financial strain on his mother. Tracey's friends are having a benefit for the family at 8 p.m. Dec. 16 at Pockets, 1444 Independence St. The benefit will feature entertainment from the band Ninth Life, and items such as a gold necklace and bracelet and gift certificates will be auctioned off.

Brain cancer

After completing fifth grade at Central Middle School in Cape Girardeau, Aaron was riding his bicycle through his neighborhood and blacked out. When Aaron was taken to the hospital, doctors performed an MRI and found a tumor on his brain.

A biopsy provided a diagnosis of the tumor -- it was germinoma, which is a form of brain cancer. Germinomas arise in germ cells that fail to make their way to the sex glands during fetal development. These misplaced cells can travel to the middle of the body or the brain and form cancerous tumors.

The news of her son's diagnosis devastated Aaron's single mother, Tracey.

Aaron went through four months of chemotherapy and three months of radiation at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Doctors also performed surgery on his brain, which left him paralyzed on the left side of his body.

Tracey Gostowski held her son's hand while she talked about his cancer diagnosis. Complications from surgery left him paralyzed on the left side of his body. Tracey uses massage therapy to help him regain some movement.

"He couldn't talk or move after the surgery -- he could do nothing," Tracey Gostowski said. "As a mother it was incredibly hard to see."

After several weeks at her son's bedside, Tracey, a massage therapist at the Style Stop in Jackson, realized she might be able to help him.

Tracey began massaging her son's body and performing cryotherapy to him on a daily basis.

Cryotherapy involves the application of extreme cold to destroyed or diseased tissue, including cancerous cells.

To Tracey's surprise, Aaron began responding to the both the massages and cryotherapy. "The extreme cold of the cryotherapy is used to numb something, but I was trying to stimulate him," Tracey said.

For several months, Tracey saw improvement in her son. He began speaking and moving again.

Tracey Gostowski recently transferred her son to the Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center in St. Louis and hasn't asked doctors if her at-home therapy caused the improvements. But Tracey and Aaron both see improvements every day and believe the massages and cryotherapy helped.

Marlisa Nolan, an occupational therapist at Saint Francis Wellness Center, said Tracey performed the correct techniques to help her son recover.

"Whenever your sensations are impaired, the more you can provide some kind of tactile stimulation to it, it helps normalize the system," Nolan said.

"I am a firm believer that the body needs to have time to heal, but I do think she did the right things to help facilitate the recovery," Nolan said.

Aaron Gostowski was diagnosed with cancer a little more than a year ago.

Tracey no longer performs the cryotherapy because Aaron began responding to the extreme cold. "One day he finally told me, 'Mom, that's cold -- quit,'" Tracey said. "The therapy did want I wanted it to do -- he regained feeling in parts of his body."

She does continue to give her son a massage every day. Aaron recently started walking with a cane.

A setback

There have been a few obstacles Aaron has come across during his recovery. In October, he was involved in a car accident with his home health nurse, Tara Stamp. A driver of another vehicle ran into Stamp's car, and Aaron hit his head on the dashboard.

"That set him back just a little bit. But he's strong. He's very inspirational," said Stamp, who takes care of Aaron while his mother works.

Aaron travels to Cardinal Glennon every three months for CAT scans, and the prognosis is good. He's currently in remission from his cancer.

Aaron's cancer treatments caused kidney damage and his bone marrow doesn't produce enough red blood cells.

"It's been tough since he was such an active kid, but I'm very grateful for every breath he takes" Tracey said.

An extreme sports fan, Aaron loves to watch skateboarding competitions on television. He hasn't attended school since his diagnosis but recently began homeschooling.

"We're very lucky, and we've had many blessings," Tracey said. "The man upstairs is taking care of us constantly."

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246