WARDEN — Avree Pruneda described her last few weeks as hectic.

A pain in her arm over the past year turned into a growth. When that growth hardened in December, Avree’s mother, Tara Pruneda, said she knew it wasn’t something normal. Told at yet another trip to the doctor that it might be a cyst, they soon learned it was actually a mass, a tumor.

“From there, everything kind of moved pretty fast,” Tara said.

Avree, a sophomore at Warden High School, was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, an extremely rare form of cancer. There are fewer than 1,000 cases in the country each year. This type of cancer is typically found in children and young adults, accounting for 2 percent of all childhood cancer diagnoses.

“I think it was just such a shock at first, it took a little bit to wrap our heads around something we’ve been dealing with for so long, gone to the doctor for so many times, was a tumor,” Tara said. “You feel guilty because you think, did I not go to the doctor enough?”

She said doctors assured her that this form of cancer presents itself in so many different fashions, it’s difficult to pinpoint. She said she and Avree’s father, Gabe Pruneda, are finding out just how understudied pediatric cancer is.

The weeks since Avree received the diagnosis from her biopsy on Jan. 15 were filled with weekly trips to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital in Spokane. The cancer hasn’t metastasized, and Tara said doctors told her this was a good sign. Still, she said she knows Avree has a tough road to face.

Avree said she has learned about surgeries she’s getting that day. She was to have her third on Feb. 19. The sophomore was heading into her third round of chemotherapy as she was still in the early part of her 31-week treatment.

Through all of this, a positive note remains in her tone.

“For a bad situation, it’s been a really good experience,” Avree said. “My doctors are really nice, my nurses. They’ve just been really helpful throughout this.”

The worry of medical bills adds to the pile for the Pruneda family. Tara said she’ll have better idea of that side of things later on in the process, but there’s always a concern when that bill comes.

Right now, it’s the driving back and forth and things like this that weigh on them. She has been driving up to Spokane with Avree, while Gabe has been working and taking care of their son Ozzy, 10, at home. Ozzy can’t come visit Avree in Spokane due to hospital restrictions, and Tara said they want to try and keep as much of a routine for Ozzy as they can.

Throughout everything, she said the support from the community and the medical staff in Spokane has been incredible.

“The Ronald McDonald House, even just her oncologist, her social worker, the nurses, are all amazing, and they have such a tough job, too,” Tara Pruneda said. “Every one of them has been amazing, even as much as just walking us through it.”

One of the toughest things to do for Avree was letting the rest of her family know after she was diagnosed, having had loved ones affected by cancer before. The wave of support from their family was immediate and tremendous, Tara and Avree said.

“It’s helped me in so many ways,” Avree said. “I have really rough days, they just come over randomly, or text me, or call me. They just want to make my day better, not to talk about what I have, but just talk about how my day went, and how I made it better, and how the next day’s gonna be even better.

Having such a large family that remains so close-knit, Avree said, has really helped her get through this.

Ayzaiah Pruneda and Tyson Wall, cousins of Avree, said that when they found out they just couldn’t believe this was happening to her.

Ayzaiah and Wall said they started brainstorming with their Warden boys basketball teammates on ways they could show their support for Avree.

“If it were us in her shoes, she’d do the same for us,” Ayzaiah said. “That’s the kind of person she is. She just wants to help you.”

A wave of ideas came in to wear yellow headbands, armbands and more at their games in support of Avree’s battle. The entire boys basketball team showed its support before the game against Kiona-Benton on Jan. 21 by giving Avree yellow roses and a signed shirt with messages of support.

Tara said Avree not being able to go places and see people like she used to might be the thing her daughter misses most. Hanging out with her friends at school has been replaced with sitting in her room, or in a hospital all day, Avree said, something she’s not really used to. Even hanging out with her friends outside of school has become difficult in the limited time Avree gets to spend at home now.

“I always have to ask if they’re sick, if they can even see me,” Avree said. “I have to make sure I’m feeling at my best to see them, and sometimes I’m not. It really sucks because then I ruin the opportunity to hang out with them.”

Kaya Enriquez, a fellow sophomore at Warden High School, said Avree has been one of her best friends since they met in second grade.

“The first time I met Avree, she was just so welcoming. She acted like we’d been best friends since birth,” Enriquez said. “She’s always been like that.”

She said when Avree told her the news over FaceTime, they both just broke into tears.

“I told her ‘I know things are hard right now, but I know God wouldn’t have given you this huge life bump if he knew you couldn’t handle it,’” Enriquez said.

She talks to Avree on a daily basis, mostly just trying to make jokes and help her think positive things.

“Honestly, I just make jokes because I just want to make her laugh because, once she’s laughing, I know she’ll forget about everything,” Enriquez said.