Potosi community supports the Vance family

Kinsley Vance is a sophomore here at Potosi High School. At the age of just four years old her dad was first diagnosed with cancer then went into remission after eight months. Then at the age of 14 years old he was diagnosed again. As you can imagine, Kinsley went through a lot at such a young age. 

He was first diagnosed in 2012 with lymphoma cancer. Lymphoma cancer is a cancer of the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is the body’s disease-fighting network. This system includes the lymph nodes, spleen, thymus gland and bone marrow. After being diagnosed her dad had cancer for eight months. 

Sadly, in February of 2023 her dad was once again diagnosed with cancer but this time it was lymphocytic leukemia. This is a rare type of cancer with fewer than 200,000 US cases per year. This cancer is when the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes, a type of white blood cells, and may affect red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. 

Kinsley said that she and her family have had a lot of support from the community. Friends and family hosted two benefits for her dad. One was an auction benefit at Twin Eagle and the other was a side-by-side benefit. 

Kinsley said that overall it was a hard time for all of her family. She has said that it was hard for her mom to do everything herself when her dad was gone or wasn’t able to do stuff. 

Kinsley said, “It was hard seeing my dad sick like that because growing up I saw him as the strongest person in my life but it made us appreciate the time that we have with each other a lot more.”

Kinsley shared, “Something that has kept me going is my relationship with God and knowing that he’s not going to let anything bad happen to my dad.”

In September of 2023 he did his final treatments and is now in complete remission. He is now doing better than before and continuing to get better every day.