Worrying symptom that led a healthy 20-year-old security guard to discover a rare, golf ball-sized tumour behind his right eye and forced him to have two parts of his skull removed
- A 20-year-old Townsville man is seeking therapy in the US after horror diagnosis
- Kayden Waddell has a rare ‘golf-sized tumour’ in his brain next to a major artery
- He had surgery last June where his skull was opened – now faces more surgery
- His mum Loron Waddell said her son is ‘absolutely amazing’ in the face of all of it
- Funds are being raised to help the mother with expenses as she cares for her son
A 20-year-old who went to the optometrist after suffering headaches is in the fight of his life after a ‘golf-sized tumour’ was discovered behind his right eye.
Security guard Kayden Waddell thought he was just having migraines last June when a Townsville optometrist told him his eye had suffered bad nerve damage – and sent him straight to a doctor.
Since then Mr Waddell has been on a long, painful journey, where two parts of his skull were removed and put back together with 40 staples in a risky surgery.
Mr Waddell hopes to beat the tumour with ground-breaking Proton radiation therapy for ‘hard to reach tumours’ – a form of treatment that is only available in Florida, in the US (pictured, an X-ray of the tumour)
Kayden Waddell (pictured) said he was shocked and scared after the tumour discovery
Loron Waddell (pictured, with her son) said it was awful to watch him go through the process but said her boy’s resilience is ‘absolutely amazing’
But he hopes to beat the tumour with ground-breaking Proton radiation therapy for ‘hard to reach tumours’ – a form of treatment that is only available in the state of Florida in the US.
Mr Waddell told Daily Mail Australia he was diagnosed with a chondrosarcoma – a rare bone and soft tissue cancer that affects one per cent of the world’s population each year.
‘I was honestly shocked from thinking it was just a headache or migraine to then finding out I had a tumour the size of a golf ball that needed to be removed ASAP, I was scared,’ he said.
The young man underwent a craniotomy last June where doctors removed 50 per cent of the rare cancer in a life-threatening operation.
The rest of it had to stay as the tumour is in a dangerous position next to the carotid artery, which houses the major blood vessels in the neck that supply blood to the brain, neck, and face.
Mr Waddell (pictured, getting a scan) has been on a long, painful journey but is hopeful of getting better with the therapy in the US on the horizon
The outcome was good but Mr Waddell faces another gut-wrenching procedure with doctors in Adelaide who hope to take more of the tumour out.
‘I’m scared to have to go through that process again. It was one of the worst things I have ever experienced,’ he said.
‘I was in excruciating pain … but the first one went so well, so that still gives me some hope that I will recover just as well.’
His mum Loron Waddell told Daily Mail Australia it was awful to watch him go through the process but said her boy’s resilience is ‘absolutely amazing’.
‘I’m worried, scared and I wish it was me and that I could take it away for him,’ Ms Waddell said.
‘He’s never once said ‘why him’, or ‘this isn’t fair’.’
Ms Waddell said her son has forged ahead, determined, as he believes ‘he’s strong and he can handle this’ and ‘he’s just getting on with life’.
His condition has had a ‘massive impact’ on the family of five so a GoFundMe page was created to pay for Ms Waddell’s expenses as she has had to take unpaid leave from work to care for her son.
The security guard had surgery in June where two parts of his skull were removed and put back together with 40 staples in a risky surgery (pictured, Mr Waddell in hospital)
The Queenslander (pictured) has faced a grueling surgery and will undergo another in Adelaide
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk