Please forgive him, but Sam Oliver is no longer accepting condolences. The effervescent 13-year-old no longer has a problem with Oklahoma, not even after more than two months of radiotherapy there to combat a brain tumor; not even after leaving his home in the United Kingdom and traveling to the Heartland of the United States; not even after missing a chance to have his treatment in Florida, where he could swim the Atlantic by day and visit Disney World in between.
No, Sam Oliver – and his mother, father, sister and brother, for that matter – are quite happy to have been introduced to the ProCure Proton Therapy Center, in Oklahoma City, and the experience they shared with residents of the Sooner State.
“Yes, Florida would have been fun,” said Oliver, recalling the day he learned he would be traveling from his home just outside London to Oklahoma, known only to him for nightly news reports of tornadoes rather than sunshine, sand and sea. “Most people I knew thought, ‘Oh, goodness. Oklahoma?’ Everyone was coming up to me and saying they were ‘So sorry!’”
Of course, those gestures of sympathy did not come with knowledge that Oliver would be exposed to new life through a radical innovative treatment for rare forms of brain cancer that once meant certain death.
“We were somewhat disappointed we weren’t going to Florida,” said Lynn Oliver, who admittedly concurred with her son. “We were concerned about the weather and how hot it would be.”
Certainly, weather would be a central topic of conversation for any family scheduled to visit the American Midwest, but especially for one about to embark on a vacation of this magnitude and to a state where more than one twister had touched down during the summer, one in particular that crippled an elementary school in Moore — a 15-minute drive
Most people I knew thought, ‘Oh, goodness. Oklahoma?’ Everyone was coming up to me and saying they were ‘So sorry!
away from the treatment center — and left 24 victims dead in its path, seven of whom were children no older than Sam Oliver.
But, perhaps, the Oliver family was more rightly concerned with the unique treatment available in Oklahoma City and the potential breath of fresh air proton therapy had to offer instead.
Pinpoint Treatment
Dr. Michael Codfer, a radiation oncologist with Radiation Medical Associates and Sam Oliver’s doctor, said proton and conventional x-ray therapies are “almost identical” in that they both deliver radiation to the body and destroy cancerous tumors that prevent them from returning.
But, compared to traditional treatments that are less controlled, proton therapy uses atomic particles to deliver radiation more precisely, allowing patients to receive higher doses with less collateral damage to healthy tissue nearby.
That way, Codfer said treatments can be pinpointed to the “millimeter” without the terrible consequences of spreading radiation near the brain or even creating another tumor in its place.
British cancer patient Lilly Gillon, above, and her family were special guests of the Oklahoma City Thunder during a professional basketball against the Memphis Grizzlies. Lilly, who sported a Thunder t-shirt, watched the National Basketball Association game from a luxury box and enjoyed visits from the team’s cheerleaders, the “Rumble and Tumble Girls.”
For the most part, Codfer said proton therapy centers for patients like Oliver are few and far between. He said there are 12 that are operational in the United States and 25 worldwide.
To date, the ProCure Proton Therapy Center, a member of the Medical Tourism Association®, has hosted some 140 pediatric patients from 10 countries including the United States, India, Germany, Israel, Russia, Bahrain, Netherlands and United Kingdom, and that listed is growing – in of all places, Oklahoma City, where southern hospitality goes hand-in-hand with finding the perfect balance of medical and psychological treatment.
“Kids can get stressed out from being away from home,” said Codfer, whose family entertained the Olivers on the Fourth of July and more than one backyard barbecue. “But, in the end, they are all hesitant to leave. Quite a few come back and visit just to say ‘Hi’ because they had such a great experience.”
For the most part, Codfer said proton therapy centers for patients like Oliver are few and far between. He said there are 12 that are operational in the United States and 25 worldwide.
Weather was a topic of conversation for medical tourism patients like Sam Oliver, from the United Kingdom, who was treated for a brain tumor in Oklahoma, where a severe tornado crippled an elementary school in Moore, a 15-minute drive from the ProCure Proton Therapy Center
Lilly Gillon was one such toddler who returned to the Proton Therapy Center from the United Kingdom, after nearly dying a year earlier from an aggressive brain tumor — called “Ependymoma” – which had put pressure on her swelled skull and left her for months constantly sick and in dramatic loss of weight.
Although the tumor was removed, doctors at Birmingham Children’s Hospital feared the cancer could return without further treatment. When Lilly did not respond to chemotherapy and was too young for radiotherapy, her parents, Graham and Cherie Gillon, heard about the Proton Therapy Center and the hope medical tourism offered for saving their daughter’s life.
When the couple approached the National Health Service, the publicly funded health system of England agreed to finance Lilly’s trip to undergo daily proton therapy – not available in the United Kingdom — for six weeks in Oklahoma City. After 30 targeted radiation treatments, Lilly’s spirits picked up, but when the family returned to England, they noticed “something was missing.” Lilly had stopped eating and talking as much.
“Most people just stare because they’re too scared to come up and speak to her,” said her father, Graham, who recalled how different his daughter was treated in England. “As where if we went to the mall in Oklahoma, people would come up and say, ‘Would you mind if I asked what’s wrong with her?’ They were just so nice.”
Home is Where Heart Was Left
It wasn’t long before the family decided to pack their bags for a vacation and return to – of all places – Oklahoma City. Upon arriving in Oklahoma City, as soon as Lilly returned to the ProCure Proton Therapy Center, she was greeted with the love and attention she so dearly craved
A couple of nights later, Lilly and her family were special guests of the Oklahoma City Thunder during a professional basketball against the Memphis Grizzlies. Lilly, who sported a Thunder t-shirt, watched the National Basketball Association game from a luxury box and enjoyed visits from the team’s cheerleaders, the “Rumble and Tumble Girls.”
Now, the father, who is determined to do whatever it takes to save his daughter’s life, is considering moving the family and Lilly’s three sisters permanently from the United Kingdom to Oklahoma.
“The experience was just amazing,” said Graham Gillon. “It really was. It was obviously life-changing.”
Graham Gillon said his daughter’s most recent scan was clear and doctors believe Lilly has a 75-percent chance of a full recovery without any growth or developmental issues resulting from her cancer. Only after 10 years without the return of a new tumor will Lilly be classed in remission.
Codfer said the only limits to proton therapy are knowledge and access. He said few potential patients understand the benefits and are most likely treated locally because of the convenience.
Some patients, like Ali Mustafa, didn’t cross water, but did travel across the continent to get from his home in Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada, to the center in Oklahoma City, when the 8-year-old began suffering from severe headaches and vision problems.
Today, with prospects for good health and without the traditional side effects that accompany radiation therapy, a visit to the zoo, the science center and a hockey game where Mustafa was able to take a break from battling cancer to watch the local Oklahoma City Barons are lasting memories he’ll keep from a place that saved his life.
Nothing to Compare
Sam Oliver has trouble comparing his experience to anything else in his life. For nine weeks, at least for a half-hour each day, he was strapped on a table and urged to stay still; tough for any kid, especially a rambunctious Brit like Sam who had so much more to do than he ever thought he would before arriving in Oklahoma City.
“It’s been really good,” said Oliver, far from reluctant to talk about the his nine-day road trip to the Hot Springs in Arkansas, rafting on the Buffalo river, horseback riding, swimming in area lakes, visiting the Bill Clinton museum, and a chance to see Elvis at Graceland in Memphis, Tenn. “I can’t compare this to anything. I’ve never gotten bored. There’s always something to do.”
