In February 2021, at 22 months old, Ethan contracted a urinary infection. He was given antibiotics to clear it up but over the course of the week, he continued to be in a lot of pain and he stopped walking. Kate, Ethan’s mum, shares their story,
We were admitted into hospital and a scan of his kidneys was done. Through it the doctors discovered a mass on his adrenal gland. The hospital asked us to go straight to Sydney Kids Hospital the next day for further scans.
When we arrived at Sydney Kids, the amazing team took over and Ethan was sent off for a series of scans and tests, and within a day Ethan was diagnosed with neuroblastoma (something we had never even heard of). As the week progressed and test results came back, the news just kept getting worse.
Ethan’s final diagnosis was Stage 4 Neuroblastoma with a tumour on his adrenal gland, a secondary tumour on his lower spine (this is why he stopped walking) and disease in pretty much every bone of his body.
Ethan was given radiotherapy on his spine to stop that tumour from growing any further as well as three months of rapid induction chemotherapy, which shrunk the tumours slightly and reduced the amount of disease in his bones.
Unfortunately, there were still too many diseases for Ethan to move to the next phase of treatment, so he was put on a trial chemo in the hope that this will accelerate the removal of the cancer cells.
These four months had been tough and with the neuroblastoma being a bit stubborn it was going to be a longer treatment plan for Ethan.
After spending eight weeks in the hospital, Ethan was made an out-patient and he was back walking again, enjoying every second he had with his big brother.
Ethan Paterson fought hard over a 12 month period, but unfortunately the devastating cancer took over his body very aggressively in February 2022.
Ethan’s family is supporting Run2Cure 2022 to raise funds and awareness for neuroblastoma cancer, in the name of Ethan Paterson who sadly lost his battle to Neuroblastoma on 18-02-2022.
