A first birthday made possible by cardiac tumor surgery

Today is Oliver Cameron’s first birthday and he and his parents have a lot to celebrate. After a year of uncertainty, they will be enjoying a quiet dinner with family at their home in Wantage, a town in Oxfordshire, England. “Having him home and healthy is the best present ever,” says his mom, Lydia. She and her husband, Tim, are looking forward to some quiet time alone with Oliver and their family after spending much of the last year fighting for his life. Oliver was born with a large, non-cancerous tumor, called a cardiac fibroma, inside his heart. It was so rare that only a handful of doctors in the U.K. had ever seen one, and none were able treat it. The tumor caused Oliver’s heart to beat dangerously fast, and his parents often had to rush him to the hospital for emergency treatment. “They couldn’t treat the tumor in the U.K. because they didn’t have any doctors with the right expertise,” says Lydia. “They said our only option was a heart transplant, but we thought there must be another route, so we started doing our own research.” Finding Francesca The Camerons took to the internet and found a study that said surgery was the best treatment for cardiac tumors. That led them to the story of Francesca, a little girl in the U.S. whose large cardiac tumor had been successfully removed at Boston Children’s Hospital. “Francesca’s story was posted on the Boston Children’s website the day after Oliver was born,” says Lydia. “It seemed like a sign...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories cardiac fibroma Cardiac Tumor Program Dr. Pedro del Nido Dr. Tal Geva Source Type: news