Taylor Florey was looking forward to senior year at Downers Grove North High School, a year she expected to be filled with fun, attending games and hanging out with friends.
But everything has changed thanks to a slightly swollen right knee.
Now, the 17-year-old is facing a huge health challenge. But she is getting tremendous support from the Downers Grove community thanks to a GoFundMe page.
In August, Florey, the daughter of Jessica Angeleri and Zach Florey, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, in her knee.
βI was very surprised. It was the last thing I thought they would say,β Florey said.
Florey is unable to attend school in person and is studying online. She was a cheerleader through her junior year, but decided to not cheer her senior year.
βItβs only a year of my life so it seems pretty small compared to the big picture. I have a lot of good friends who help me get through it,β Florey said.
Getting a cancer diagnosis when you are 17 is stunning, but Florey is not battling her diagnosis alone.
Three weeks ago, family friend Rob Kennard, 48, of Oswego started a βHelp Taylor Florey Fight Bone Cancerβ page on GoFundMe to assist with what are expected to be sky-high medical bills.
A total of $48,690 had been raised as of Sept. 23, three days after Florey started her second round of chemotherapy.
βMy heart is so full thinking of all the amazing people who are helping me out in so many ways. I could never imagine this being like that,β she said.
The 438 donations range from $5 up to $1,200.
Among the donors are family, friends, parents of friends and people Florey has never met.
βIt is crazy. It shows that no matter who you are, everyone is so caring,β she said.
After several rounds of chemo, Florey will have surgery in November to remove the tumor and a cancerous lymph node behind her knee.
After surgery, sheβs looking at probably another six months of chemo and βa lot of physical therapy and stuff,β she said.
Her mother said βitβs pretty awesomeβ that so much money has been raised.
βI am very surprised,β Angeleri said. βI didnβt think itβd be all these strangers, people that have no idea who we are.β
βItβs pretty amazing how much Downers Grove, as a whole, supports members of the community,β she said.
Hearing the word βcancerβ in the same sentence as βTaylorβ threw Angeleri for a loss.
βIt was so unexpected,β Angeleri said. βHer knee was swollen a little bit. It didnβt feel real for a long time. Iβm still thinking itβs not real. Definitely shocked.β
She took her daughter to urgent care Aug. 23 thinking she may have water on the knee.
βThe following week, she was diagnosed. Weβre about a month from learning she has cancer,β Angeleri said.
On the GoFundMe page, Kennard wrote that some people may know his longtime friend Angeleri from when she worked at Neutral Zone in Westmont and Another Round in Downers Grove.
Floreyβs father has been a lead singer for many local bands through the years, Kennard wrote on the GoFundMe page.
βTaylorβs doing OK,β Kennard said. βThey caught it early.β
Kennard has been impressed by Floreyβs positive, upbeat attitude through the entire ordeal.
βWeβre working on a benefit dinner five or six months down the road,β he said.
Florey has a younger brother, 15-year-old Nathan, who is in good health, Angeleri said.
Cancer does not run in the family, Angeleri said, βbut this cancer is not genetic related. We donβt know why it happened.β
One year from now, Florey hopes to be a cancer-free freshman attending the University of Iowa, where she will major in business.