Charlie back in Mexico for cancer check

A BOY fighting cancer for the third time is to have another scan next week to see if his treatment has been effective.

Charlie Ilsley, 13, of Buckingham Drive, Emmer Green, was flying to Mexico with his parents Mark and Toni today (Friday).

It follows the three weeks of immunotherapy treatment that he had in October.

Charlie’s last scan showed a 1.5mm tumour in his cerebellum but doctors said it had grown very slowly rather than aggressively.

Mrs Ilsley said: “I don’t know if I’m positive, but I’m hopeful. I just want to know what’s going on, if this treatment is working.”

She said her son was struggling to walk again and was using a wheelchair to get around.

Charlie was initially left with weak and numb legs and unable to walk unaided after having immunotherapy treatment in Mexico City.

It caused inflammation near his spine so he needed a wheelchair to get around.

He was able to walk again after he was prescribed steroids to tackle the inflammation by his consultant at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

But after the five-day course finished he was unable to put any weight on his legs.

Mrs Ilsley said: “It could be the tumour has now got worse, which we hope it hasn’t, or it could be the inflammation because the immunotherapy is working, or a nerve could have been damaged.

“He can walk if Mark and I are either side of him propping him up. He can get downstairs on his bum.

“He’s not paralysed, he can lift his legs in the air, he can move them, he just can’t put his weight on them.”

The family still need to pay about £4,000 for Charlie’s last treatment and need to raise more money for his next scan and hotel stay.

Supporter Steven McDonald has completed a double marathon around Dorney Lake, raising almost £3,500.

Charlie was first diagnosed in 2015 and had surgery, radiotherapy and then chemotherapy before being given the all-clear.

Then in 2018 two tumours were discovered on his spine. He had specialist radiation treatment in Turkey before being given the all-clear for a second time in August last year.

In November last year, the Ilsleys were told the disease had returned after a lumbar puncture showed cancer cells in his spinal fluid.

He had more chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatment but it failed.

Since then he has been having CAR-T cell treatment, a form of immunotherapy, in Mexico.

Some of Charlie’s supporters have wanted to buy him Christmas presents so a fund has been set up for people to donate. A special gift from everyone who has contributed will then be bought from the fund.

This can be done via Paypal to charlies.challenge@yahoo.com, quoting XMAS. Please remember to use the “family & friends” or “pay someone you trust” option otherwise Paypal will deduct a fee from your payment.

To make a donation, visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/teamcharlie2020 or www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/steven-mcdonald-1