An 11-year-old boy named Lewis Deakin became the first child to undergo a mastectomy in the UK. The surgical procedure was performed on the boy to save his life. Deakin developed a very rare condition called Arteriovenous malformation or AVM, a health disorder that caused tumors to grow in the arteries of his chest.
According to Telegraph's report, the tumors began to appear three years ago and it was consultant Hiroshu Nishikawa of Birmingham Children's Hospital that was able to properly diagnose the child's condition.
"It was a really big lump on his chest and it even stretched out his clothes," Deakin's mother Victoria talks to Telegraph about the boy's condition, "One teacher thought he had a beanbag up his top."
AVM is a tangle of abnormal and poorly formed arteries and veins that occur anywhere in the body, according to the Toronto Brain Vascular Malformation Study Group. Mastectomy, or the surgical removal of breast tissue from the breast area, was necessary to treat the rare condition. According to Medicine Net, the condition can worsen and lead to death if left untreated.
Victoria also tells Telegraph that the boy is starting to recover emotionally from the surgical procedure, "He was a bit daunted by it all at first and he wouldn't show anyone the scar," the mother continues to say. "He tells all the girls at school, 'I've been bitten by a shark.' He says it's a real pulling machine!"
Lewis has also been exemplary in the way he is dealing with the condition and the surgery, "I would just crumble if it was me but Lewis is really good," says his mother. The first child to undergo a mastectomy in the UK is not yet finished with his battle, as he is scheduled to have a check-up on a new tumor growing in his chest.
