7-year-old fights cancer, becomes ambassador

Car rider lines, long division and recess are the things that usually make up the daily life of a 7-year-old. But Phineas Sandi is unlike most children his age.

He has the privilege of being able to say he is one of five 2016 ambassadors for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and, more importantly, that he has overcome the battle against childhood cancer.

Phineas, along with his parents, works to advocate for the issue of childhood cancer. The Sandi family has not only experienced great success, but a great deal of loss, as well.

Nine years ago, Kristina Sandi noticed a rash on her 16-month-old daughter, Althea, that later turned out to be petechiae. Althea was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Treatment plans were implemented, but Althea never made it to remission.

“This type of cancer is extremely hard to treat and even if treatment is being tried, it’s even harder to get any patient into remission,” Kristina Sandi said.

Kristina and Carlos Sandi weren’t done with their cancer battles just yet. Phineas developed what looked to be the same rash found on his sister, along with a cold and a slight fever that brought him to the emergency room.

“I met the family in the emergency room prior to diagnosis and we all immediately knew what was going to come from the visit,” pediatric oncologist Dr. Philip Roehrs said.

These symptoms led to him being diagnosed with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

“Phineas saw a different, more common type of cancer than Althea,” Kristina Sandi said. “A child who experiences this type of leukemia can expect about three and a half years of chemotherapy, which is extremely tough on such young bodies.”

The Sandi family was under the care of Roehrs at UNC Lineberger. Phineas went through four months of intense chemotherapy, but had seen little success because he was chemoresistant.

Carlos Sandi saw a light at the end of the tunnel once he was introduced to Dr. Daniel Lee, a St. Baldrick’s Foundation Scholar at the National Cancer Institute. St. Baldrick’s Foundation is the world’s largest volunteer-powered organization advocating for childhood cancer.

This led to Phineas joining a group of similar patients who had little to no response to previous chemotherapy.

As Phineas went through what was going to be his last round of chemotherapy, a spot opened up in the immunotherapy trial. A month later, Phineas was cancer-free.

“He came back to us after going through the trial with a full head of hair and looking like a healthy kid,” Roehrs said.

The Sandi family could say proudly that they had — and still have — a cancer-free son.

“They approached this in a positive way and read as much as they could and helped me help their child,” Roehrs said.

Jane Hoppen, director of family relations for St. Baldrick’s, has worked with the family for seven months.

“I came to know the family on an advocacy perspective and they really proved how much more needs to be done to bring awareness to this issue,” Hoppen said.

According to Kristina Sandi, the death of their daughter devastated the family, making them want to move past life and push back any thought of cancer.

“They prove to be great role models to many as they were given a curse and turned it into a blessing to those who they reach out to,” Roehrs said.

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