Brave brain tumour sufferer Kieran Taylor knows what he wants for Christmas – continued settled progress.
The Spalding nine-year-old has had a tough time since the diagnosis of the growth behind his eyes three years ago and courageously undergone a string of operations.
So dad Steve, mum Karen and sister Caitlin (12) are hoping this festive season will be a happy and healthy one for Kieran, who said: “I’m looking forward to a nice family Christmas and opening lots of presents!”
In 2017, the local community – including readers of the The Voice – helped raise £12,000 towards the family going to America for Kieran to undergo proton beam therapy on a small remainder of tumour unable to be removed in the UK. And there has been a series of ensuing operations too.
When Kieran started to suffer a lot of headaches and his behaviour became erratic it was spotted that a shunt (fluid drain) running from his brain to his abdomen was failing. That led to him needing a programmable shunt inserted in his head.
He then spent the entirety of the 2018 school summer holidays with both legs in plaster casts following an operation to lengthen tendons. This was linked to a hormone he was given to stimulate bone growth.
And just four days before Christmas last year he was back in Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge to have a stent fitted following the collapse of one of the ventricles in the shunt.
However, despite that all that pain and disruption, Kieran has never been anything other than a cheerful and bright lad continuing to cope with his work at St John’s Primary School. And he’s managing to lead a full and active social life, enjoying drama classes with Act II, weekly swimming lessons and learning to play the acoustic guitar.
Karen launched a JustGiving fundraising page in February 2017, three months before Kieran needed the six weeks of sight-saving treatment in Florida.
She said: “We’re so grateful to everybody who helped us raise the money including St John’s, the local newspapers, Spalding Lions, Spalding Round Table and Chosen, and to St John’s Church for the wonderful support.
“Everyone at school has been brilliant. If Kieran has a moment where he gets frustrated, there’s always friends doing their best to cheer him up.
“Kieran’s coped very well with it all. He just seems to have taken it all in his stride.
“We’re all managing to get our lives back to some sort of normality, which is nice.”
Steve says the family is proud of the way Kieran has handled the illness and grown to want to know and understand more about his condition.
This has led to child psychology sessions with Brainbow, a charities partnership providing rehabilitation for children with brain tumours.
“The age he’s got to now, he’s starting to ask lots of questions. And some of the questions, you wouldn’t expect parents to come out with,” said Steve.
“It’s been great because he’s been helped to make a book which he can go to for answers. It’s actually helped me understand a lot more too.”
Kieran will continue to have four-monthly check-ups at Addenbrooke’s and it’s hoped a cyst which has reduced in size recently will continue to not cause any issues.
It all means that the Taylor family can look to 2020 with a good degree of hope and happiness.
