LAKE ORION, Mich. – The first day of school this year will be extra special for one metro Detroit third-grader as he marks a big step forward in a hard-fought health battle.
Noah Cochanour's mother, Sara, said he was always extremely active and she didn't immediately think anything was wrong when he started complaining that his shoulder felt off.
"I would look at it and I wouldn't see anything," Sara Cochanour said.
Noah said he started noticing he was losing movement of his arm.
"I tried putting on my shirt, even my dad was helping me, but I couldn't lift my shoulder to this high," he said. "It didn't hurt at all, but we knew something was wrong."
The family went to Beaumont Hospital for an answer, but it wasn't the one they wanted to hear.
Noah had a tumor on his shoulder.
"The nurse came over and she said, 'Sara, the doctor's on the phone and she needs to talk to you right away.' So, I went over to the phone and she said, 'Sara, I need you to breathe. It's going to be OK, but Noah has Ewing Sarcoma,'" Sara Gochanour said.
Ewing sarcoma is a rare bone cancer.
"When I first got cancer, I was, like, scared. I didn't know what would happen," Noah said.
The American Cancer Society says only about 1 percent of all childhood tumors are Ewing tumors. And to find one in the shoulder specifically is even more rare.
"Ewing sarcoma, in general, is the less common of the bone tumors that we see in pediatrics, and there are only several hundred cases of Ewing sarcoma diagnosed in the country every year," said Dr. Kate Gowans, the head of pediatric hematology and oncology at Beaumont Children's Hospital who treated Noah.
After daily injections and chemotherapy every other week, Noah underwent surgery to have the tumor removed. Surgeons also had to remove part of his shoulder blade.
"He tolerated his chemotherapy beautifully. He had only a couple of unscheduled admissions for two small complications, which is very usual for Ewing Sarcoma patients, not very many blood transfusions," Gowans said. "He did amazingly well. One of the best I've ever seen."
Although he missed a year of school, Noah celebrated his last chemotherapy treatment in July, just a few weeks before his ninth birthday. Noah said he's looking forward to making new friends, and seeing the ones he's missed, in school.
He isn't out of the woods yet. He'll have to have tests every couple of months for the next several years to make sure the cancer hasn't returned.
On Facebook: Noah's Battle with Ewing's Sarcoma #teamnoah
GoFundMe: Noah's Battle