Five-year-old Miller making giant strides in his recovery
While recovery is a long road, five-year-old Miller is making giant strides. Left unable to walk following surgery to remove a rare spinal tumour, the determined youngster was back on his feet within two months.
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Step by brave step, little Miller Reid is getting back to being a kid again after he was diagnosed with a rare spinal tumour and left unable to walk following lifesaving surgery.
But the boy from Tyabb, on the Mornington Peninsula, isn’t letting anything stop him and after just two short months, is already back on his feet.
Miller, 5, was diagnosed with diffuse leptomeningeal glioneuronal tumour in July — an ultra rare disease of the central nervous system, of which there are reported to be about 30 cases worldwide.
The youngster had been complaining of neck pain, and after a week of tests doctors confirmed parents Jess and Chris’ worst fears.
“The neurosurgeons came and spoke to me and said they had found a tumour and that it would need to be operated on and that it was quite significant,” Mrs Reid says.
“They said was he was really close to becoming paralysed and that it had to come out.
“It was quite shocking news, it wasn’t what we were expecting.”
About three weeks later, on August 3, Miller was wheeled in for a marathon eight-hour surgery at Monash Children’s Hospital.
Surgeons successfully removed about 90 per cent of the growth, but the enormity of the operation left Miller unable to walk or move his legs.
“It was pretty confronting,” Mrs Reid said.
“When I saw that all he could wiggle was his big toe … I think that’s really hard for any parent to see their child [like that].
“I remember he said to me ‘mum when can we turn my legs back on?’ That was really hard to hear."
Mrs Reid said it felt like they were dealt a “double whammy” and left to fight two battles — cancer and paralysis, all under the guise of the coronavirus pandemic.
But through his sheer determination — and under the guidance of rehabilitation teams at the hospital — Miller slowly began to regain his strength and started to stand, then walk, again.
“He just didn’t want to give up, he didn’t want to be in a wheelchair,” Mrs Reid said.
Monash’s Dr Paul Wood sees Miller once a week and called the diagnosis “rare and only recently described.”
He said it was almost always found in kids under 18, and could spread to other areas of the brain and spinal cord too.
“Because of this, patients [including Miller] often require some form of chemotherapy as treatment,” he said.
Now almost two months on, Miller is back home with his brothers, Mason, 7, and Elliott, two, and enjoying mucking around outside again.
He still has 18 months of weekly chemotherapy ahead, but his parents couldn’t be more proud of their brave boy.
“He’s so determined and spirited,” Mrs Reid said.
“Everyone who meets Miller knows that he is one of a kind.
“If anyone can get through this, he can.”
To donate to Miller’s fight, go to www.gofundme.com/f/doing-it-for-miller
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