When he was 10 years, Dugan was told to undergo amputation of a half feet. At that time he was not afraid of pain, but the fear that comes to mind was that he could not play sports again.
Dugan loves baseball, but he was diagnosed to have cancer in his leg. This condition makes it must undergo chemotherapy for 10 weeks and the doctors had no choice but to amputate his leg.
After 3 years, now Dugan (13 years) could return to the field thanks to a unique surgical procedure that rotate 180 degrees the bottom of his feet. With the help prostethetic limb he could play baseball, running on the basketball court and play football.
"Sports is life Dugan, thus carried out by a doctor for him is a pretty amazing thing," said the mother, Amy Miller, as quoted from Mirror.co.uk, Monday (17/12/2011).
Conditions experienced by Dugan began in June 2008 when he injured his right knee while practicing baseball. The pain is still going through until the next day that makes it must be brought to the hospital in the area of Fostoria, Ohio, USA.
At first doctors thought he broke his leg, but tests show there is something much more worrisome that Dugan refers to the Arthur James Cancer Hospital in Columbus.
Dr. Joel Mayerson, head of musculoskeletal oncology told Amy that 99 per cent sure Dugan had osteosarcoma, which is a cancer that grows in the bones that can destroy the bone such as glass and includes rare.
"It's hard to believe this strong boy could suffer terrible disease. But we can certainly know Dugan is facing the toughest challenge," said the father, Dustin (41 years).
After doing chemotherapy for 10 weeks, the tumor was shrinking. But doctors had to amputate his leg to make sure his body is completely free of cancer cells. This means Dugan have lost most of his thigh that had been infected.
"I am really scared, I thought I would never be able to play sports or run again and that makes me depressed," said Dugan.
Finally, the doctor offers a choice of a fairly radical and not usually done in children. The doctor will cut off the leg with cancer, then rotate the lower leg of 180 degrees. Ankle will eventually act as the knee joint.
"Most parents think you are from another planet or crazy. But this procedure allows us to remove all the cancer and leave the nerves that control the foot as a whole as well as reduce the possibility of tumors arise again," said Dr. Mayerson
Finally in August, Dustin surgery is a fairly radical. This operation was originally scheduled for 8 hours, but it must spend for 21 hours. Dustin was outside the operating room and he could move his toes.
Doctors still do the monitoring for 1 month to see if Dugan could adjust to his new situation and to ensure the cancer in his body was wasted.
He also took several months of physiotherapy sessions and after 6 months she was fitted with prosthetic limbs. He gradually learned to walk again and has now returned to school and can remain active.
"I do not care if people stared at me strangely, I can still wear shorts like there's no need to be covered and I think has made the right decision," said Dugan.
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