A Devastating Diagnosis
- Oliver, Owen, and Oscar Maw are 7-year-old identical triplets. Tragically, one of the boys, Oliver, was diagnosed last February with neuroblastoma, which is a rare cancer that starts in the early nerve cells.
- The devastated family needs lifesaving treatment, and have around 6 months to raise over $300,000 for their little fighter.
- If your child is showing any symptoms that last more than a week, and their health continue to decline, go get them checked. Don’t back down if a doctor brushes off whatever is ailing them if you feel that something is off.
Now, after a stage 4 diagnosis, the devastated family needs lifesaving treatment, and have around 6 months to raise thousands for their little fighter with the “cheeky grin” that “lights up any room.”
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Oliver was diagnosed after his health started declining over a four-month period. Phillipa, his mothers, took him in to see a doctor several times, and they dismissed symptoms as fatigue, potentially from a virus or simply “growing pains.”
One day when Oliver got home from school, he was showing swollen grands. They began testing more thoroughly and then he received the Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma diagnosis.
Next up in his treatment plan is five months of immunotherapy. His doctors are hoping he will have success with the combination of therapies. Then, he needs to come to New York (on a few separate occasions) for vaccine injections designed to help keep the disease away, as there is a high risk of relapse.
“All of Oliver’s friends and family are tirelessly helping to achieve the final total. I just want to do my bit,” Uncle Peter said. “Time isn’t on our side. “We have six-months to raise thousands of pounds to get Oliver on that plane to America. We can do it!”
Related: Warning Signs! The Top Ten Childhood Cancer Symptoms That Can Be Missed
Peter is walking in the 26-mile Three Peaks Challenge next month to help raise funds. The Bradley Lowery Foundation, an organization started by a family who lost their 6-year-old to the same disease, has also rallied behind the little boy.
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CEO of the Bradley Lowery Foundation, Gemma Lowery, said: “It’s heart-breaking when any child and their family receive a diagnosis like Oliver’s. We are urging the community to get behind Oliver, just like they did with Brad.”
The Impact of a Childhood Cancer Diagnosis on the Whole Family
The foundation has been working with Oliver since his diagnosis to help raise over $300,000 American dollars, which is what he needs for the rest of his treatment plan.
Here is a link to Oliver’s heroic story and fundraising page.
Learning About Neuroblastoma
Neuroblastomas are cancers that start in early nerve cells (neuroblasts) of the sympathetic nervous system. The nervous system is made up of the spinal cord, brain, and the nerves that reach out from them to the rest of the body. According to the American Cancer Society:
- Most neuroblastomas begin in the abdomen, either in an adrenal gland or in sympathetic nerve ganglia
- Most of the rest start in sympathetic ganglia near the spine in the chest or neck, or in the pelvis.
- Rarely, a neuroblastoma has spread so widely by the time it is found that doctors can't tell exactly where it started.
Some neuroblastomas grow slowly, while other spread and grow more quickly.
When Cancer Runs In The Family
Neuroblastoma is the most common cancer in babies up to age 1. The average age of diagnosis is age 1 or 2. Nine out of 10 cases are diagnosed by age 5, and rarely past the age of 10.
According to the American Cancer Society, there are about 700 to 800 new cases of neuroblastoma each year in the United States. The good news is that the number has not been going up, but unfortunately, it’s also not going down either.
Related: Vietnam Veteran Gives 2-Year-Old Boy Fighting Metastatic Neuroblastoma His Bronze Star
Signs and symptoms that may indicate neuroblastoma include:
- Lumps of tissue under the skin
- Eyeballs that seem to protrude from the sockets (proptosis)
- Dark circles, similar to bruises, around the eyes
- Back pain
- Fever
- Unexplained weight loss
- Bone pain
If your child is showing any symptoms that last more than a week, go get them checked, and don’t back down if a doctor brushes off whatever is ailing them if you feel that something is off.
Insist on as thorough a checkup and as much testing as possible, within reason for the level of severity of the illness.
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