A Swansea toddler has marked the end of his gruelling cancer treatment in traditional style. Myles Stokes was just five months old when he was diagnosed with leukaemia in March, 2020, and now, after more than two years of intensive medical treatment, he's had his last dose of chemotherapy.
In a video shared on Instagram on Wednesday by the Noah's Ark Charity, which supports Cardiff-based Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales, staff confirmed that Myles, who lives in Morriston with his family, had finally finished treatment.
Sharing her relief his mum, Natasha Hill, told WalesOnline: "We are absolutely over the moon to have finished treatment. Also, being moved from medium risk regiment to low risk regiment, which is a massive deal in the world of cancer - it means Myles responded to treatment really well throughout maintenance stage for the last 18 months.
"As much as it's all good news at the moment, that worry at the back of your mind doesn't go away ever - but we keep positive, move forward and wait for the better days to come now he's finished all treatment. On May 25, 2022, he took his last dose of chemotherapy and we celebrated at home with a little tea party and had a Spider Man mascot visit Myles to congratulate him on his achievements.
"The support we have received off all the staff at Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales, the staff at Morriston Hospital oncology outpatient department, LATCH, friends and family - our thank-you words will never be enough to show how grateful we are of their support. Without superhuman consultants and nurses, we may have never got this far and for that alone we will always be in their debt for saving our baby's life." You can get more Swansea news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
Back in November, 2020, we spoke to Natasha about what it was like to hear the sad news that Myles had leukaemia - news which came just weeks after she had sadly lost her dad to liver and lung cancer. At the time, she said: "It's hard to explain how lost and useless you feel in those first few days after diagnosis. You're used to doing everything and knowing everything about your baby and suddenly that's all taken away."
It was in the March of that year that Natasha found a lump on baby Myles' ribs and so she and her husband Jonathan had taken him to hospital to be checked over. He was diagnosed with a cyst and Natasha and Jonathan were advised to bring him back to the hospital a month later - but before the month was up, Myles' condition took a turn for the worst. You can read more stories about Swansea here.
On April 20, 2020, Myles' parents found him very pale and lethargic and were worried he'd caught Covid-19, so rang 111 for advice. An ambulance arrived at the family home within just three minutes and whisked him off to hospital for medical tests.
"I've got to say at that point I wasn't overly worried. I think I was still numb from the shock of losing my dad if I’m honest," Natasha said. "But when we got to the hospital and saw the doctors rushing to get a line into him – and failing – I did start to get scared. It wasn’t until the consultant came into the waiting room and asked us to sit down that I really panicked though. It was almost an exact re-run of what had happened with my dad just a few weeks before and at that point I knew it was bad. I just kept saying: 'I can’t do this again, I can't do this again'."
Myles was taken to the Noah's Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales in Cardiff where specialist doctors diagnosed him with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). He was given an emergency blood transfusion and the following day had an operation to insert a Hickman Line, in preparation for his chemotherapy.
Natasha was soon introduced to play specialists Catrin Bayliss and Alison Evans, who worked on the Rainbow Ward at the hospital. With funding by Noah's Ark Charity, Catrin and Alison have been fully-equipped to support Natasha and Jonathan throughout the last two years, including by using play to counteract some of the harsh effects of Myles' chemotherapy and to help strengthen his weak muscles, particularly important at the early stages of his chemotherapy treatment.
Speaking to WalesOnline previously, Natasha said: "Catrin and Alison helped me feel less lost. They started by explaining all the complicated jargon and procedures, taking us through it all step-by-step using a mannequin doll so we knew what to expect when the chemo started and how it all worked.
"They were also there to support me through the emotional stuff too. Because of Covid, Jonathon and I haven’t been able to stay together with Myles and we’re not able to have friends and family visit. We have to take it in turns to be with him which means that practical things like having a shower and getting some food is difficult. But we aren’t there to support each other through the scary and hard times either. Catrin and Alison have been like family to us through all this, helping us in whatever way needed. I think I would have gone mad without them."
Explaining what support was available, Catrin previously told WalesOnline: "In normal times parents get support from each other and extended family and there’s always things for children to join in with in the playroom to distract them from treatment and brighten their day.
"But with the playrooms closed and the one parent only policy in place [during the pandemic] there aren’t those opportunities. As play specialists our roles have had to adapt. We still prepare and support children and parents through treatment and provide developmental play but we now have to take play to the bedside instead and provide much more of the practical and emotional support that these families desperately need." You can read more about the treatment Myles received in hospital in our previous article here.
In the Noah's Ark video Myles' mum reads a plaque on the wall and tells Myles: "Ring this bell, three times well, its toll to clearly say 'my treatment's done, this course is run and I am on my way," before young Myles rings the silver bell to mark the end of his treatment. You can watch the beautiful video at the top of this article.
The words accompanying the post say: "Yesterday [Tuesday, June 7] was a happy day on Rainbow Ward because, after more than two years of treatment, Myles finally got to ring the end of treatment bell! Myles was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when he was just five-months-old and had eight months of intensive chemotherapy as an inpatient at Noah’s Ark before finally being allowed home to complete 18 months of daily maintenance treatment."
The post continues: "Looking at this little family, you'd never imagine the immense challenges they've faced over the last two years but Myles' parents are very humble and just full of gratitude to the team who cared for him. Natasha, who brought in cakes for all the staff as a thank you, says: 'Without the consultants, nurses, play team and charities that supported us, we would never have made it through. And more importantly neither would Myles. The Noah's Ark Children’s Hospital saved our son's life and from the bottom of my heart, we'll never stop being thankful for that.'"
This September the Noah's Ark Charity is holding its first ever "5k Superhero Dash" - a fun run across Pontcanna Fields in Cardiff - to raise funds to support thousands of other children like Myles who receive care at the Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales. For more information, and to sign up, go to the charity's website here ]
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