Parker Finn has endured a 12 months very different to his Year 4 peers at St Mary’s Primary School, Echuca.
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Despite the challenges caused by juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma, Parker has never stopped smiling.
In November 2023, Parker, now 10, was diagnosed with JNA, a rare but benign tumour, affecting only one in 150,000 people and accounting for less than 0.5 per cent of all head and neck tumours.
Following unsuccessful surgery attempts at Monash Children’s Hospital in Melbourne in December 2023 and February this year, Parker’s family sought help from Brisbane-based ear, nose and throat fellow Claire Frauenfelder, surgeon James Bowman and Prof Ben Panizza.
“Parker started going downhill, and sort of ran out of space in his face for the tumour to fit,” Parker’s mum, Jess, said.
“It was literally growing out the bottom of his nostril, and then he started getting nose bleeds, which was always a big concern.
“We spoke to his specialists in Brisbane, and they said, ‘he just needs to be here’.”
Parker flew to Brisbane three weeks before his surgery and attended the Queensland Children’s Hospital school, which Jess believes helped give him a push of confidence.
“He was so nervous about going but after his first day he was like ‘Mum, everyone is different, like me’,” she said.
“He wasn’t different there. Everyone was sick, so they were all normal.
“That sort of feeling was really good for him. I think it built up his confidence to interact with kids who got it.”
The first surgery at QCH was an embolisation, a procedure to block blood flow to the tumour.
After this was successful, the surgical team estimated that they could remove half of the tumour, which Parker’s family were thrilled to hear.
More than 19 hours of surgery and team rotations later, the outcome was even better than Jess could have imagined.
“The doctor I spoke to was like ‘we’re fairly confident that we’ve got it’,” she said.
“At the very least, we got 95 per cent.
“In no world did we think that would possibly be how well it would go.
“It was pretty amazing.”
Parker faced a long recovery, marred by nausea, but slowly started to become himself again amid weeks of follow-up appointments, physio and speech therapy.
Since returning home, he has enjoyed playing netball with Lockington Bamawm United, running in the school athletics carnival, joining in Sweat vs Steam, and watching his mum and stepdad marry.
“He’s doing so well,” Jess said.
“He’s the healthiest he’s been, he’s really active and off his restrictions.
“It’s really nice, and it gives us the strength to be like, ‘we can do this again’.”
While the surgical team defied their own expectations with the tumour removal, an MRI scan at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital in October showed residual tumour in Parker’s jaw and brain lining.
This means Parker and his family are back to QCH in January for another surgery, prioritising removing the residual tumour in his brain lining.
“They’ll have to remove some of the lining of his brain to get the tumour and patch it,” Jess said.
“(Claire Frauenfelder) is not sure if they’ll have enough time to get the tumour in his jaw as well, so I’m assuming they’re expecting another quite lengthy surgery.
“But she has said that the tumour in the jaw, (RCH) Melbourne can do that.
“We’ll get through this surgery in Brisbane and probably be there for another three weeks. It will really depend on how the recovery goes.”
The cost of travelling to and from Brisbane and Melbourne for surgeries and appointments has taken an emotional and financial toll on the family, often facing weeks-long stints away from home.
Designed by Parker himself, merchandise for Team Parker has been an engaging way for his support network to show their support both financially and visually.
The back of the apparel says #JNAawareness to highlight the condition.
JNA is rare and can be hard to diagnose, with vague symptoms such as a blocked nose or nose bleeds often being the only indicators.
Team Parker merchandise can be ordered by emailing teamparker2311@gmail.com and includes T-shirts, training shirts, caps, hoodies, bucket hats and stickers, available in blue, green and pink.
The Taras Hall Hotel has also hosted raffle nights on Fridays for Team Parker, with the community showing up to spend time with Parker and provide valuable contributions to his ongoing health journey.
To follow along with Parker’s journey, head to the Team Parker Facebook page at tinyurl.com/teamparkerfacebook
Cadet Journalist