Brave Elsa McBurney wins her cancer battle!

After months of chemotherapy, surgery and proton beam treatment, little Elsa McBurney is now cancer free.
Little Elsa McBurney has received positive news about her cancer fight.Little Elsa McBurney has received positive news about her cancer fight.
Little Elsa McBurney has received positive news about her cancer fight.

Elsa, who celebrated her eighth birthday with a huge community party at Banbridge Rugby Club earlier this month had a scan on Tuesday following the end of her chemotherapy.

Posting on the Team Elsa Facebook page, her mum Leslie said doctors told her the scans showed no evidence of the disease.

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“The cancer is gone. She did it!” Leslie said, “I have absolutely no words and I can’t explain how it felt to hear that but I am so happy for her. She cried actual tears of joy when I told her.”

It had been an anxious wait for the family as Elsa’s doctor had briefly looked at the scans on Tuesday and noticed some shadows on her lungs.

But on Wednesday evening, Leslie received the phone call from the doctor who confirmed the good news that this was more than likely scarring and Elsa was cancer free.

“Yesterday Elsa’s doctor looked at her scans briefly and said that her original site of disease looked clear but there was something in the lungs, not tumours but a haziness,” Leslie posted.

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“He didn’t think it was consistent with disease but that was always a possibility.

“Now Elsa has had a lot going on in that area with pneumonia, the lung problems in Birmingham and more recently the radiotherapy in America so scar tissue and swelling could almost be expected but it really isn’t reassuring enough to calm down a worried mum who has studied Ewing’s Sarcoma for the past 14 months.

“I know it spreads to the lungs first and I really was physically sick over it. Anyway, tonight I got the dreaded phone call.

“Elsa is already suffering the side effects of the treatment. She now has a curvature in her spine that will be closely monitored and she will be back under the care of the surgical team in Birmingham, possibly needing more intervention.

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“There is scarring and swelling in the lungs and that will also need to be monitored closely along with kidneys and heart and basically everything but there is no evidence of the disease.”

However after a long year of seeing her daughter go through agonizing treatments, Leslie is still remaining cautious about what the future holds.

She added: “I am scared to death. I know the facts, the odds are not in our favour. Ewing’s Sarcoma has a tendency to reoccur, but for now, I have one cancer free little eight year-old who is ready to jump back into life and I am jumping straight back in with her.

“We are feeling positive about the future and I plan on making every second count.”