Boulder Peak fifth-grader graduates from cancer treatment

MARION — Fifth-grader Bella Saul was celebrated by her Boulder Peak Intermediate School peers Monday after graduating from cancer treatment.

Bella, 10, walked the hallway of Boulder Peak Intermediate lined with 300 fifth-graders cheering her on after a monthslong battle with osteosarcoma, a kind of bone cancer that likely developed from radiation treatment from a previous form of cancer that Bella fought. Many educators in the school wore pink T-shirts that read “Bella Strong.” Her peers held signs that read “You amaze us,” “You’re a warrior” and “We’re proud of you.”

Boulder Peak Intermediate fifth graders celebrated their friend Bella, 10, who graduated from cancer treatment Friday. Story to come for @gazettedotcom pic.twitter.com/aJQsuB7gjO

— Grace King (@GraciiElizabeth) November 21, 2022

Bella was diagnosed with cancer for the first time when she was 3 years old, said Amanda Saul, her mother. She had taken Bella to the doctor and was told she had strep throat. But hat night, Bella’s throat “swelled shut” and she was rushed to the hospital.

“By the grace of God, her oxygen level was still 90 percent,” Amanda said. “How? I don’t know.”

Bella was airlifted to a children’s hospital in San Antonio, Texas, where the family was living at the time. Bella was diagnosed with rhabdomirosarcoma, a cancer of soft tissue such as muscle, tendon or cartilage. Bella had a tumor wrapped around her carotid arteries — blood vessels that supply blood to the brain, face and neck — making it inoperable, Amanda said.

After 12 weeks of radiation treatment and a year of chemotherapy, Bella remained cancer-free for five years before being diagnosed with osteosarcoma in March.

Bella was living with her father in Texas when a mass was found in her jaw, which Amanda said she could see when she FaceTimed her daughter. Amanda, who had moved back to Iowa, brought Bella to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for treatment.

“The treatment was a little harsher this time,” Amanda said. “She lost about 70 percent of her hearing.” When a plastic surgeon offered to cover up her scars, Bella said “no” because that is a part of her now, Amanda said.

“Bella’s a fighter, she’s sassy. She will inspire you. She’s stronger than all of us. There’s nothing that can stop her,” Amanda said. “She is extremely positive. She holds herself together better than any adult I know. She would rather suffer through pain than tell us she’s hurting.”

Bella split her time being in the hospital with being in school, and now has returned to school full-time. The family is looking forward to returning to normal, and Bella is even ready to play soccer in the spring, Amanda said.

Bella was “anxious” to start school during cancer treatments because she “didn’t want to feel different,” Amanda said.

Before the first day of school in August at Boulder Peak, Bella met with teacher Natalie Shaffer, a fifth-grade social studies and English language arts teacher. Together, they put together a plan for how Bella would learn while in the hospital.

“She’s a very easy kid to get to know,” Shaffer said. “She has sarcasm, humor and wit. All these kids felt like they were her best friend right away.”

Bella’s doctors met virtually with the class the first week of school to explain cancer in a “kid-friendly” way, show what Bella’s hospital room looked like and explain what happens when Bella is in the hospital, Shaffer said.

“That really helped me and the kids know how we can support her through all of this,” Shaffer said. Some students would send Bella a video or FaceTime her at the end of a school day as a way of including her in class when she was in the hospital, she said.

On Monday, the students showed Bella a video they created, each saying a word that describes her — like “unshakable,” “outstanding,” “heroic,” “courageous” and “kind.”

“I think you really see how big fifth-graders’ hearts are when they find ways to be supportive of her even when she’s not in school,” Shaffer said. "These kids have wanted to be by her side every step of the way.“

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