Stories of progress, inspiration, and information in overcoming osteosarcoma.

Mark Khorsandi, DO, and his daughter Cammy

Friendship Bracelets and Go-Karts: Cambria’s Osteosarcoma Story

Cambria, 10, is navigating each step of her treatment journey with support from her orthopedic surgeon father and family.

Cambria loves cartwheels. In the house, outside, during gymnastics practice — Cambria, or “Cammy” for short, would do cartwheels anywhere, explains her father Mark Khorsandi, DO, an orthopedic hand surgeon based in Houston, Texas.

Basketball was another one of her favorite activities. Cammy was doing a pre-season basketball camp twice a week in November 2023 when she started having pain in her arm. “She was so active I thought she was just overdoing it,” says Dr. Khorsandi. “But the pain just did not go away.”

A Sleepless December

It was Thanksgiving break, and Cammy stopped all her activities to rest her arm but she was still having pain. So her dad took her to his office for an X-ray. “I just wanted to get an X-ray to see that there was no break. Cancer was not even on the radar,” he says. Cammy’s pain was concentrated near her shoulder, but the entire arm was hurting her.

The X-ray did not show a fracture or a break, but Dr. Khorsandi says he could tell this did not look like a normal X-ray. “There was something going on there, like a density. You do not really see a mass on an X-ray, but I could tell that the inner part of the bone, the medullary area, looked very different.”

Another colleague performed further imaging and confirmed the mass, so Cammy was scheduled for a biopsy just after Christmas.

“I already knew that this was not good,” says Dr. Khorsandi. “The whole month of December I had no sleep. I decided to make a call to MD Anderson Cancer Center, so we had the appointment set up before we even had the biopsy.”

Cammy’s biopsy took place on January 3, 2024. “Two days later, we were walking into MD Anderson,” he says. “I will never forget that when we were walking in Cammy said, ‘Dad, this place says MD Anderson Cancer Center.’ And she looked at me and said, ‘Do I have cancer?’ I said, ‘Well, we are here to find out and make sure you do not have cancer.’”

Cammy’s oncologist confirmed a diagnosis of osteosarcoma, and she began chemotherapy treatment right away — a course of 10 cycles. While it is common for osteosarcoma to spread to the lungs, imaging and biopsy showed that the suspicious nodules in Cammy’s lungs were not malignant.

“We are not sure if the chemo killed it or if it was just never cancer to begin with,” says Dr. Khorsandi. Her doctors continue to monitor her lungs to see if the nodules remain stable. Cammy is also on immunotherapy treatment and an oral chemo drug.

Celebrating Wins Big and Small

Cammy’s diagnosis and treatment have led to a roller coaster of emotions. “She is a tough girl,” Dr. Khorsandi says. “She has had her ups and downs last year — and there are moments when she is feeling great and she wants to do things.”

“Right now, Cammy is focused on her Make-A-Wish trip,” he adds. “Her dream was to go to Japan, so now she is learning Japanese on Duolingo and is very into it.”

“She is a tough girl. She has had her ups and downs last year — and there are moments when she is feeling great and wants to do things.” — Mark Khorsandi, DO

Cammy also loves being back at school with her friends. “Her school starts at 8 a.m.,” says Dr. Khorsandi. “She makes me drop her off at like 7:05 a.m. so she can hang out and be with her friends.”

A major highlight was a recent Taylor Swift concert in New Orleans. “I think Taylor Swift’s music got her through a lot of this,” says Dr. Khorsandi.

When he realized there were only a few U.S. concert dates left on the Eras tour, Dr. Khorsandi booked their tickets and trip — his gift to Cammy to commemorate the end of her chemotherapy treatment last fall. “Because [the music] was such a big part of her cancer treatment, we went, and she had the time of her life. I can tell you she pretty much danced and sang through the whole thing. She loved it.”

Dad and daughter also pulled out all the stops on concert attire. “She picked out her outfit and makeup and all the friendship bracelets, and we were all glammed out. I even had a leopard-print purple shirt on. It was not just a concert — it was an event.”

Racing for the OSI

Through his journey with Cammy, Dr. Khorsandi has also helped fuel an Osteosarcoma Institute fundraiser. “I was thumbing through a magazine last year and I saw an article about the inaugural OSI go-kart fundraising race in Houston and I told Cammy, ‘We are going to put a team together, and we are going to race for you.’”

Her family made their own T-shirts for Team Cammy. “She could not make it because she was too sick at that time, but we raced for her,” Dr. Khorsandi says. “It just so happens that our son is really good at go-karting, so we actually won it for her. I think we raised about $75,000. Now I am helping out with the second race this year. Cammy will definitely come because it also means she gets to miss another day of school.”

Dr. Khorsandi says his work with the OSI on the Board of Ambassadors has been good for his own journey because it keeps him engaged and supporting osteosarcoma research. “The more I started to learn about osteosarcoma, the less I feel like I know. That is because a lot of these studies discuss the way cells mutate and the genetics of it all. So, I think it is a very exciting time. The OSI is a great organization to be a part of, especially since I have a child affected by osteosarcoma. I hope we can do some great things here.”