Brightons cancer teen Ashlee Easton returns to New York to restart vaccine treatment
and live on Freeview channel 276
The 13-year-old, who was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma aged just six, landed in New York with mum Lisa at the weekend to begin a bivalent vaccine trial from scratch.
Doctors and her family hope that by restarting the process, Ashlee will have the “best chance” of overcoming the disease following seven years of treatment.
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Hide AdThe Braes High School pupil jetted out to New York in March – prior to flights being cancelled by the coronavirus pandemic – after family, friends and schoolmates generated more than half of the £239,000 needed to allow her to begin the treatment at a Manhattan hospital.
She received four doses of the vaccine before returning home in May, however, scans revealed a small area of active disease in Ashlee’s shoulder where she had previously relapsed.
The courageous teen then endured eight sessions of radiotherapy at The Beatson in Glasgow and four cycles of oral chemotherapy.
Consultations with her New York-based doctor led to Ashlee undergoing a PET scan a few weeks ago that showed the cancer was no longer active.
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Hide AdMum Lisa provided an update on her daughter’s progress ahead of the journey to the US via Facebook.
She wrote: “As you can imagine it has been a very anxious time for us and we have just been dealing with it quietly, trying to keep ourselves busy and our minds occupied.
“Instead of carrying on from vaccine number five we are starting from the beginning which we hope will give her the best chance of beating this relentless disease.”