In childhood, recovery usually occurs through aggressive therapies. The 13-year-old had to endure 18 chemotherapies. The consequences were vomiting, abdominal pain and pronounced weakness. “I slept there every day,” he says. The loss of hair was bearable, but because of the constant nausea, eating was almost impossible. Levi lost weight from 48 kg to 38 kg.
“We didn’t know if he would make it,” says his father Lutz Wilhelm. Especially since the chemo didn’t work as well as we had hoped – the malignant tumor remained as big as a tennis ball. A few months ago, the tumor was removed from Levi’s upper arm along with the bone. The doctors placed a metal implant in place of the humerus.The operation lasted five hours in a special clinic in Essen.This was later followed by two months of radiation therapy.
Also read: Shock diagnosis of cancer: how little Levi Wilhelm from the district of Gütersloh is doing now
Ongoing investigations were primarily concerned with one question: Has the cancer spread? Because Levi’s blood does not contain any cancer markers – which is very bad and, according to his father, only occurs in two out of 100,000 children – he was finally completely screened once more in mid-January: electrocardiogram, ultrasound examination of the heart and abdomen, computed tomography of the arm and lungs – so far without finding.
Fear of death has subsided
According to him, Levi is doing “quite well” at the moment. The fear of death has also subsided. The illness has allowed the boy to mature: “Levi has become much more relaxed and cooler,” says his father. Levi has regained weight and is working with Harsewinkl physical therapist Simon Klima twice a week to try to restore as much mobility as possible in his right arm.
He can write with his right hand once more and shaking hands also works – but initially only with the help of his left hand. The permanently implanted venous access is to be removed in the coming days. Because Levi beat cancer, his parents made his wish come true: the giant schnauzer Amari has been part of the family for five months.
In this phase, Claus Häusler’s donation came at just the right time: The hobby runner found out regarding the boy’s illness from the newspaper. He thinks Levi’s development is “phenomenal”. He has now supported Levi’s family with a three-digit amount through his “Spendenlaufjahr” campaign launched in 2019, in which participants collect one cent for every kilometer run. The family of four wants to use the money to go on a trip. Levi and his parents hope the hardest times are behind them. But some fear remains. “There’s a lot of respect that this piece of shit is coming back,” says Lutz Wilhelm.
