LOGAN’S JOY AT SURGERY SUCCESS
Pioneering US operation beats tumour
A YOUNG boy’s pioneering laser treatment for a cancerous tumour behind his right eye has been successful.
Logan Sellers, 8, received the good news this week that the tumour is no longer cancerous after he began 10 weeks of proton laser therapy in Jacksonville, Florida, in December.
The schoolboy, his twin sister Francheska and their father James travelled to America last November after Logan was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) in the summer.
The youngster, who lives in Talybont near Bangor with his sister and dad, initially started chemotherapy at Manchester Children’s Hospital before travelling thousands of miles for the laser therapy treatment.
With treatment now complete, doctors have confirmed that the tumour has shrunk and is no longer cancerous.
Dad James, 37, said: “It’s a relief and quite a shock to us all.
“The tumour has reduced slightly, it is still present behind the eye but it’s not cancerous anymore which is brilliant.
“He’ll have a chest X-Ray in six weeks’ time to make sure it hasn’t spread anywhere and providing everything is okay he’ll go down to six weekly visits and have an MRI scan every three months for a year or two to check for re-occurance.
“I don’t really know what I’m feeling, I’m just so amazed.
“Logan is getting back to his happy, cheeky self again, but when I told him the news it was a little too much for him to take in. He broke down in tears.
“At least for the time being he can return to being a normal child again.”
James said he now hopes that proton laser therapy, which is a type of radiation treatment that uses protons to treat cancer, will be readily available in the UK.
He said: “Without the proton therapy there would have been a substantial spread of the radiation treatment more than likely affecting part of his brain, but the proton therapy treatment reduced that threat dramatically.
“Considering how many centres are in America, it’s remarkable that there’s nothing here.”
Nearly £12,000 was raised for Logan and his family to live on while he received treatment in America after a gofundme page was set up by Susan Pritchard, Logan’s step-grandmother.
Logan’s mother, Tamara Hewitt now says she “cannot wait” to get back into a routine with her kids.
She said: “I’m really happy that Logan got the great news and I am incredibly grateful to all the doctors and nurses that have been involved with him over the last year.
“I just can’t wait to get back to swimming with Logan and hopefully he will stay cancer free.”