Brave facial tumour tot faces 16-hour op today
Anxious wait for little Matthew’s mum and dad
The mum of a fun- loving toddler who is set to undergo major surgery today to remove a facial tumour says she has every faith in the doctors looking after him.
At just 11 months old, little Matthew Smith was diagnosed with a tumour that was embedded in his skull, leaving his mum and dad devastated.
Now that he is two, doctors have decided it is the right time to take the growth out, but it means the tot will be in the operating theatre for up to 16 hours.
His mum, Cheryl Fyvie, 34, a theatre nurse at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, said: “We are now 15 months down the line and Matthew has had surveillance scans every 12 weeks since February last year and every time the tumour has shown no change.
“So now the decision has been made to remove it.
“The surgeons feel it’s time to do the op. His dad Craig Smith and I are both scared, but we feel a sense of relief that something can be done.”
The massive operation will be carried out today at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow, and Cheryl says it has been a long struggle to get to this point.
She explained: “When Matthew was 11 months old, we noticed his right eye didn’t move at all. After trips to our GP, ophthalmology and then a MRI scan, it was found that there was a tumour sitting under his right eye.
“To say we were devastated is an understatement. Our world crashed in on us. You immediately think, I’m going to lose my little baby. The fear gripped us both and all our family.”
But while the couple had a diagnosis, they were no further forward as to what could be done.
Specialists from across the UK and America were unable to say definitively what the tumour was.
“Throughout this time, Matthew was well. He had no other symptoms but no other test could determine anything else,” Cheryl added.
However, Matthew contracted an infection after doctors put in an access line. He was kept in isolation, but nothing stopped the little lad smiling.
Cheryl said: “He then spent three weeks on antibiotic treatments in the hospital. Matthew was great throughout, always smiling.”
But now the time has come for doctors to remove the tumour and Cheryl and Craig, 33, are hopeful that it will all go to plan.
The mum added: “It’s a huge operation and Matthew will have between six and nine months of recovery. We are hopeful that everything will work out, but we are aware of the risks.”