Lucas Garcia-Batalla had flu-like signs which his dad and mom thought have been only a gentle sickness. They have been surprised when he was identified with a grade 3 anaplastic ependymoma
A toddler was identified with an incurable mind tumour the dimensions of a tennis ball after his dad and mom thought he had a “abdomen bug”. Simply 10 days after his first birthday, Lucas Garcia-Batalla was identified with a grade 3 anaplastic ependymoma – a fast-growing malignant tumour.
Earlier than that, Lucas had flu like signs – and his prognosis got here as a “shock” to his dad and mom David Garcia Jurado, 42, and Laura Batalla, 38. Lucas then had three main mind surgical procedures, 13 months of chemotherapy and two months of proton beam remedy.
Sadly, nothing has labored for Lucas and his dad David suspects he might need lower than a yr to stay. David, a senior mission supervisor from Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, stated: “Simply earlier than his first birthday Lucas was sick.
“He did not have a lot urge for food however we thought it was a abdomen bug. He did not cease vomiting, he was torpid, and the whole lot occurred so shortly – it was not a sluggish development.
“Just a few days later, a CT scan revealed a large tumour on the again of his head: it was 4cm by 4cm – it was like a tennis ball. That was a really darkish second for me. I nonetheless have the image in my thoughts of my spouse holding Lucas and them telling us he had a mind tumour.”
Lucas, now six, celebrated his first birthday on April 1, 2019. After a CT scan revealed Lucas had a grade 3 anaplastic ependymoma he was transferred to The Royal Hospital for Kids and Younger Individuals, Edinburgh the place he had a ten hour operation to take away the tumour – which was profitable.
David stated: “His first surgical procedure was simply two days after his prognosis. They managed to take away the whole lot, it was a profitable surgical procedure. Lucas then had chemotherapy for 13 months, after that an MRI was OK – he was clear.”
Three months after he completed his chemotherapy, Lucas relapsed in September 2020. He underwent one other surgical procedure and was transferred to the Christie Hospital, Manchester the place he had two months of proton beam remedy.
David stated: “We had hope for a yr after which in December 2021 he relapsed once more. He had palliative surgical procedure in March 2022 to take away the tumour – once more, that was profitable.
“After that in January 2023, he had experimental Gamma Knife surgical procedure – a kind of radiotherapy remedy. It is the primary time one thing like that has been completed to a four-year-old to cease/delay the expansion for a while.”
Sadly, in June 2023, an MRI scan revealed the tumour is continuous to develop. David stated there aren’t any extra remedy choices left for Lucas and they’re aiming to provide him the most effective life attainable.
He stated: “There aren’t any extra choices for him – what number of occasions are you able to open his head and have a surgical procedure? In all of his journey, a very powerful factor is to maintain him alive however the uncomfortable side effects are actually tough.
“Lucas is blind in the suitable eye and deaf within the left ear. It’s a miracle that he has been in a position to go to high school. He has an ideal sense of humour, it’s unbelievable. You would not consider what he has gone by.”
David stated that the tumour is sort of a “time bomb” and Lucas might need only a yr left to stay. He stated you will need to “benefit from the second” and provides Lucas a “regular life”.
David stated: “It is rather obscure, in some unspecified time in the future you be taught to stay with uncertainty. It’s like having a ticking time bomb, however we would like him to have essentially the most regular life attainable – it’s all about him.”
Catherine Fraher, director of providers and digital well being at The Mind Tumour Charity, stated: “We’re actually grateful to everybody who shares their – typically heartbreaking – story to boost consciousness of mind tumours. We all know that each household offers with a mind tumour prognosis and its aftermath in their very own distinctive method.
“That is why The Mind Tumour Charity affords help to anybody who wants it. It’s so essential for them to know that they don’t seem to be alone.”
