A Family's Hope
- 5-year-old Tyler Lynch was experiencing stomach and leg pain, which doctors first dismissed, in May 2020. When his eyes began to swell, his parents knew something was very wrong; it was a rare cancer called neuroblastoma.
- After undergoing aggressive treatment and having initial success, Tyler, now 7, is suffering a relapse from the disease, an early-forming cancer in the nerve cells which almost always affects only children by the age of 5. Despite the uphill battle, the family is holding out hope to find more treatment.
- Neuroblastoma is a type of cancer that develops in neuroblasts, the immature nerve cells around the body. It can be found in the adrenal glands, abdomen, spine, chest, and neck. Neuroblastoma almost exclusively occurs in children under the age of five, and along with swelling of the eyes and bone pain, symptoms can present as dark circles under the eyes, unexplained weight loss, and lumps of tissue under the skin.
Tyler, now 7, is fighting another mighty fight after suffering a relapse from the disease, an early-forming cancer in the nerve cells which almost always affects only children by the age of 5.
Read MoreAside from Tyler, Daniel and his wife, Maria, have two other children, Ruby, 12, and Emily, age 5. The family lives in Sale, a relatively populous town of over 130,000 outside of Manchester, England.
"He is the happiest kid; he's always smiling despite everything that's going on,” Daniel said of his brave little guy. “He used to try and play on the ward; he was out in the corridor riding up and down on electric cars. Most children tend to stay in bed.”
"At the minute everyone keeps saying, 'I don't know how you do it'. It's a bit of a disillusion because what we know and what we see with Tyler are very different things.”
The Impact of a Childhood Cancer Diagnosis on the Whole Family
Tyler’s Fight
Daniel admits that the family doesn’t know what’s going to happen, but they are trying to stay as positive as possible for Tyler. “You have these days where things are quiet and you break down, but we don't do that in front of him,” he shared.
After Tyler’s initial diagnosis, he underwent 12 aggressive chemotherapy treatments, followed by surgery. He then had more chemo and a stem cell harvest, where blood cells are temporarily removed from your body, and transplanted back in.
Recovering “quickly,” especially considering all Tyler had endured, things were looking promising. But then Tyler was presenting subtle knee pain six months later that doctors checked out. The cancer had unfortunately returned.
"It wasn't a lot of pain and wasn't that noticeable for him," Daniel continued. "They did an ultrasound and they thought there was something in his stomach but that it was scarring from surgery.”
Related: Vietnam Veteran Gives 2-Year-Old Boy Fighting Metastatic Neuroblastoma His Bronze Star
An MRI revealed a tumor situated on a main blood vessel, hindering doctors from being able to surgically remove it. As a result, the family is “desperately looking” for more treatment to save their son.
"He has a five per cent chance of survival," Daniel said. "They had to get five per cent from somewhere. So why can't he be part of the five per cent?”
What Is Neuroblastoma?
Neuroblastoma is a type of cancer that develops in neuroblasts, the immature nerve cells around the body. It can be found in the adrenal glands, abdomen, spine, chest, and neck.
Neuroblastoma almost exclusively occurs in children under the age of five. As a child grows, neuroblasts mature into nerves and fibers.
In some instances, neuroblastoma goes away on its own, while those like Tyler with stage 4 face more of an uphill battle.
There are no known causes of the disease, and there is limited proof that family history makes one more or less likely to develop this form of cancer.
Signs & Symptoms Of Neuroblastoma
Before his stage 4 neuroblastoma diagnosis, Tyler only showed a couple common symptomsstomach pain and leg painthat could have been from anything. It was his eye-swelling that was a more telltale symptom.
The symptoms of neuroblastoma will vary based on where the affected neuroblasts are in the body, but generally include:
- Lumps of tissue under the skin
- Eyeballs that protrude from the sockets (proptosis)
- Dark circles around the eyes
- Back pain
- Fever
- Unexplained weight loss
- Pain in the bones
Advocating for yourself is one thing, but for young children who may not always be able to vocalize or express what symptoms they are feeling, it’s important to stay tough when dealing with dismissive doctors, and keep pushing for a correct diagnosisespecially if your child’s pain is worsening or not going away.
To follow Tyler’s story, the family set up a fundraising page on JustGiving. We wish Tyler all the best on his courageous battle. Never give up. There is always hope!
Contributing by SurvivorNet staff.
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