Benjamin Stowell, Age 6

The Ben Fund exists to help the Stowell Family with the endless costs associated with Ben's cancer treatments. The family has to pay a $250.00 co-pay each time Ben goes into the hospital for his chemo treatments. From the time of his diagnosis until mid December 2006, he was admitted 10 times. During that time, the Stowell family traveled to Dana Farber Hospital in Boston for a second opinion and the co-pay for that consultant visit was $500 in addition to hotel room accommodations, food and other travel expenses.

Ben is scheduled for surgery in January 2007 and will continue chemotherapy for at least a year after.
For the latest on his journey go to: www.greendrakkoman.com

FUNDRAISER FOR BEN

A fundraiser for Ben, sponsored by Carrabbas Restaurant, is scheduled for January 28, 2007 at Shaker High School in Latham, NY. To learn more about the fundraiser and to print out a reservation form, please click here: A Benefit For Benjamin Stowell

For contributions, make checks payable to: The Ben Fund #103502912send to:
The Ben Fund
HSBC Bank
494 Troy Schenectady Road
Latham, NY 12110
Attention: Rosetta

The Beginning of Ben's Journey

Benjamin Stowell is 6 years old and a 1st grader attending Blue Creek Elementary School in Latham, NY. On the Wednesday after Labor Day his mother took him to the emergency room because she noticed he had difficulty raising his right arm above his head after his bath.  He had fallen out of bed for the previous 8 nights and she thought he must have broken or dislocated something. It was 8 pm the night before the first day of school and she wanted to make sure he was ok .  The doctor in the emergency room sent them home telling his mother, “The X-ray looks fine , no breaks; everything is where it should be. It must be a strained muscle.  If it doesn’t get better by Friday make an appointment with your pediatrician.”

Ben went to school all week; played soccer on the weekend; his arm seemed fine. The next Friday at 10:30 am his parents received a call from the pediatrician telling them that Ben needed to get an MRI immediately. The radiologist at the hospital, upon reviewing Ben’s X-ray,  “saw something.”  The MRI took a couple of hours after which the family went back to the pediatrician’s office for the MRI report. The pediatrician had already made an appointment for Ben on the following Monday with an Orthopedic Surgical Oncologist. The next Friday Benjamin had a biopsy and they were told the unofficial diagnosis—Second Stage Osteogenic Sarcoma—which was confirmed on the following Monday. The followin Friday Benjamin began chemotherapy.

Ben has not fallen out of bed since the night of his X-ray.