River rings the bell to signal end of chemo
GUERNSEY mum Lucy Dennis has spoken of her joy as her son River completed his round of chemotherapy treatment for a rare form of cancer.
The two-year-old – who lives with his parents in America – was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2016, days after his first birthday.
Initially admitted with sporadic unexplained vomiting, River’s eventual diagnosis was an atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumour in his brain.
The mass on his brain stem was pressing against some nerves that affected his facial muscles and eyes.
Following his first operation in December 2016, his mum described him as a ‘rockstar magical baby’ who was back home in time for Christmas that year.
At the start of 2018, Mrs Dennis posted that River had received a set of clear scans and was waiting for his platelets to return to a healthy level before his final rounds of chemotherapy.
Regular updates have been posted in a Facebook group with nearly 1,000 members and $32,000 has been raised so far towards a $40,000 target to help with medical bills.
As is tradition at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, the day of River’s last round of chemotherapy – 15 March – was marked by the ringing of a special bell on the ward, which was captured on video.
‘Finding it hard to find any words other than I’m so proud and so relieved. You did it, you brave little lion man,’ said Mrs Dennis on the post.
Due to the high recurrence rates of this sort of cancer, River will be followed very closely throughout his childhood and will have an MRI scan at least every three months. However, Mrs Dennis wanted to say how relieved the family all are.
‘For him to finally be able to have some sort of “normal” childhood, he has endured so much and displayed such awe-inspiring strength,’ she said.
‘We are thankful beyond words for his team at Lurie’s and their expertise in treating paediatric brain tumour patients – and furthermore for the outpouring of support from all of the wonderful people in Guernsey.
‘We plan to continue to raise awareness about this rare form of cancer and raise funds for research in the hope that one day there will be a standard of care for children diagnosed with AT/RT,’ she said.
Many of the donations towards River’s care have come from Guernsey people, including $290 from staff at Frossard House and $520 from sales at the OSA pop-up shop last year.
n To donate towards River’s treatment, go to YouCaring website http://bit.ly/2hsYffg.
