一位准备带三岁儿子前往美国参加疫苗试验的母亲表示，这为她的家庭带来了对他未来的“一线希望”。
A mother who is preparing to take her three-year-old son to the US for a vaccine trial says it has given her family a "glimmer of hope" for his future.
近一年前，医生曾警告泰迪·斯洛曼的父母，他在被诊断出患有高危神经母细胞瘤——一种罕见、侵袭性强的儿童癌症——后，可能无法在挽救生命的手术中存活。
Almost a year ago, doctors warned Teddy Sloman's parents that he might not survive life-saving surgery after being diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma a rare, aggressive childhood cancer.
但最近的扫描显示没有活动性疾病，一家人正准备下个月飞往纽约，泰迪的母亲莎拉希望这将是他治疗的“最后一章”，也是“这场荒谬噩梦的终结”。
But recent scans showed no active disease, and the family are preparing to fly to New York next month for what his mum Sarah hopes will be "the final chapter" of his treatment and "the end of this ridiculous nightmare".
她说：“我们现在已经给了他在医学科学界所能拥有的绝对最佳机会。”
"We've now given him the absolute best chance that we could possibly have in the world of medical science," she said.
来自托尔芬彭蒂普尔的莎拉表示，自泰迪确诊以来的过程“难以置信地艰难”，因为他们经常面临无法预料的问题。
Sarah, from Pontypool, Torfaen, said the process since Teddy's diagnosis had been "incredibly difficult" as they were often dealing with problems they could not have anticipated.
作为一名儿科护士，她此前曾表示，她的医学知识既是“一种福气，也是一种诅咒”。一种旨在防止泰迪所患癌症复发的实验性治疗在英国已不再提供，因此他的家人筹集了25万英镑，以便参加纽约的疫苗试验。
As a paediatric nurse herself, she previously said her medical knowledge had been both "a blessing and a curse" An experimental treatment aimed at preventing the return of the type of cancer Teddy has is no longer available in the UK, so his family raised £250,000 to access the vaccine trial in New York.
莎拉说，扫描结果让她感觉“像圣诞节提前到了”，此前几个月他们一直担心泰迪会复发，现在感觉他们终于“正在向下一步迈进”。
Sarah said the scan results felt like "Christmas came early" after months of fearing Teddy would relapse, and like they were finally "moving forward to the next step".
但她补充说，他们不得不“在心理上应对所有这些事情”，而他们“真正想做的只是待在家里，享受一家人在一起的时光，哪怕只有一次”。
But she added they had to "mentally navigate all of these things" when all they "really want to do is stay at home and enjoy being a family for once".
威尔士政府表示，改善癌症护理是重中之重，并且“敏锐地意识到”这对人们意味着什么。
The Welsh government said improving cancer care was a top priority and it was "acutely aware" how much it meant to people.
泰迪于2025年7月确诊，此前数月出现的症状最初被认为是出牙、疾病和便秘。他停止进食和饮水，白天和夜里都睡上好几个小时，并开始呕吐。莎拉摸到他腹部有一个肿块，最初被告知“只是粪便”。
Teddy was diagnosed in July 2025 after months of symptoms that were initially thought to be teething, illness and constipation. He stopped eating and drinking, was sleeping for hours in the day and night, and began vomiting. Sarah felt a mass in his abdomen and was first told "it was just faeces".
由于泰迪身体仍感不适，莎拉于7月带他回到克姆布兰的格莱奇医院。
With Teddy still feeling unwell, Sarah took him back to The Grange Hospital in Cwmbran in July.
负责儿童评估单元的一名临时医生表示，泰迪出现这些症状“并不正常”，并安排了扫描，随后发现该肿块“实际上是一个巨大的肿瘤”。莎拉说，听到诊断结果时感觉“超现实”。
A locum doctor in charge of the children's assessment unit said it was "not normal" for Teddy to have these symptoms and ordered a scan, later finding out that the mass was "actually a significant tumour". Sarah said hearing the diagnosis was "surreal".
“作为一名实习护士，大约20年前我曾身处完全相同的境地……感觉太超现实了，像是灵魂出窍。
"I, as a student nurse, had been in that exact situation sort of 20 years ago... and it just felt so surreal, like an out-of-body experience.
“这是我的工作世界。这本不该是我的私人生活。”泰迪的肿瘤非常巨大，填满了他整个腹腔，压迫着他的器官，导致他进食甚至呼吸都很困难，癌细胞已扩散至骨髓。
"This is my work world. This is not supposed to be my personal life." Teddy's tumour was so large it filled his entire abdomen, pressing on his organs and making it hard for him to eat or even breathe, and the cancer had spread to his bone marrow.
莎拉说：“我们不愿面对的一切，它全都是。所以它是最侵袭性的、最罕见的、最……各方面都是最坏的。”阿奈林·贝文卫生局表示，该局认识到“当孩子病情严重时，对父母来说是多么令人痛苦，特别是当症状复杂且难以诊断时”。
Sarah said: "Everything that we didn't want it to be, it was. So it's the most aggressive, the most rare, the most everything else." Aneurin Bevan health board said it recognised how "distressing it can be for parents when their child is seriously unwell, particularly when symptoms are complex and difficult to diagnose".
该局补充说，欢迎该家庭与他们联系以讨论任何担忧，以便能“全面复查”。
It added that it welcomed the family to contact them to discuss any concerns so they could be "reviewed fully".
这家人在威尔士诺亚方舟儿童医院度过了10个月，还不得不前往伯明翰和伦敦接受专科治疗。
The family spent 10 months in Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales and also had to travel to Birmingham and London for specialist treatment.
这导致了长期后遗症，泰迪现在完全依靠管道进食，在因长期卧床已不得不三次重新学习走路后，他又必须重新学习如何进食和饮水。
This led to long-term implications, and Teddy now receives his food entirely through a tube and has to learn how to eat and drink again after already having to learn to walk three times due to being in bed for long periods.
莎拉说，她感到“妈妈的愧疚感”，因为她最小的儿子乔伊快两岁了，当泰迪住院期间，他大部分时间都由祖父母和亲戚照看。
Sarah said she felt "mum guilt" as her youngest son Joey, who is nearly two, spent most of his time with grandparents and relatives while Teddy was in hospital.
“我们很久以前就已在透支中运转，但你只能做该做的事，”她说。
"We started running on fumes a long time ago, but you just do what needs to be done," she said.
莎拉说，由于纽约爆发麻疹，他们做出了“令人心碎的决定”，在第一次出行时让乔伊留在英国。
Sarah said due to a measles outbreak in New York, they had made the "heartbreaking decision" to leave Joey in the UK during their first trip.
在过去几个月的家庭生活中，这对兄妹一直一起玩耍，互诉“我爱你”，她说。“正是这些你不想失去、不想放手的小事。“你希望他们一起长大，互相照应，做所有兄姐妹都会做的事。”
Over the past few months at home, the pair had been playing together and telling each other "they love each other", she said. "It's those little things that you don't want to lose, you don't want to let go of. "You want them to grow up together, looking out for each other and doing all the things that all the siblings [do]."
她补充道：“现在这一切都感觉触手可及，而去年此时却并非如此。” 6月，这个家庭得知，一种名为二氟甲基鸟氨酸（DFMO）的维持药物——本可防止泰迪复发——已被拥有该药物的美国公司在临床试验后从英国国民医疗服务体系（NHS）撤回。
She added: "All of those things now feel like they're possible, whereas this time last year they didn't." In June, the family found out that maintenance drug difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), which could prevent Teddy relapsing, had been withdrawn from the NHS by the US-based company which owns it following a clinical trial.
已在接受该药物治疗的患者获准继续服用两年，但新患者（如泰迪）无法获得。莎拉说，就他们所知，他们是唯一一个在走私人治疗流程的家庭。
Those who were already receiving the drug were allowed to continue for two years, but it was not available to new patients, such as Teddy. Sarah said they were the only family they knew of going through the private treatment process.
为了获得临床疫苗试验的正式转诊，泰迪一家必须送检尿液样本、进行骨髓穿刺，且他的扫描结果须显示“无活动性疾病”。
To get an official referral for the clinical vaccine trial, Teddy's family had to send a urine sample, get a bone marrow aspirate, and for his scans to declare "no active disease".
“拿到结果……医生说没有活跃的神经母细胞瘤细胞，简直像圣诞节提前到了。这是我们期盼已久的一切，”莎拉说。
"To have the results come back... and for them to say that there's no active neuroblastoma cells, it was Christmas come early. It was everything that we'd hoped for for so long," said Sarah.
泰迪已正式被接纳为纽约疫苗试验的患者，将于11月进行首次就诊——但这需要一笔巨款。
Teddy has officially been accepted as a patient for the vaccine trial in New York, and will have his initial appointment in November - but it comes at a hefty price.
“如果他复发，存活率会降至个位数。所以如果这疫苗有一丝机会能起作用，[就值得尝试]，”莎拉说。
"If he relapses the survival rates drop to single figures. So if there's a tiny chance that this vaccine can do some good [it's worth it]," Sarah said.
“一度我们甚至考虑卖房、贷款，想尽一切办法，因为我们实在看不出别的出路。
"At one point we were looking at selling the house and getting loans and all sorts because we just didn't see [another option].
“世上没有什么是你不愿为孩子做的。” 朋友们发起筹款活动，目标25万英镑，在12周内达成目标，莎拉承认她曾以为“哪怕一百万年也凑不齐”。
"There's nothing in the world you wouldn't do for your children." Friends launched a campaign to raise £250,000 and reached their target in 12 weeks, with Sarah admitting she thought "we'd never make it in a million years".
筹款目标随后提高至 35 万英镑，以帮助应对持续的费用，目前已筹得超过 30 万英镑。
The fundraiser has since been increased to £350,000 to help with ongoing costs, and more than £300,000 has been raised so far.
她补充说：“这绝对令人难以置信，世上没有足够的语言来感谢大家。”尽管经历了一切，莎拉形容泰迪是个快乐的“社交达人”，始终保持着积极的态度。
She added: "It's absolutely incredible and there are not enough words in the world to thank people." Despite everything, Sarah described Teddy as a cheerful "social butterfly" who had remained positive throughout.
“他的朋友们正在学着跳泥坑、玩攀爬架，而泰迪在学着量血压、用听诊器。”莎拉表示，儿童癌症需要更多的关注、支持和研究，与成人癌症相比，资金投入“令人痛心”。“我们不应该非得筹这么多钱，飞到地球另一头去买药，”她说。
"His friends are learning how to jump in muddy puddles and do climbing frames and Teddy's learning how to take blood pressures and use a stethoscope." Sarah said more focus, support and research was needed for childhood cancers and that funding was "harrowing" compared to adult cancers. "We shouldn't need to be raising all this money to fly the other side of the world for drugs," she said.
“我只想让泰迪的故事被大家知道，这样排在我们后面的下一个人，就不必再经历我们这样痛苦的旅程。”威尔士政府表示，改善癌症护理是“重中之重”，制定了为期 10 年的战略，重点在于更好的预防、诊断和治疗，旨在改善各年龄段患者的服务和预后。
"I just want Teddy's story to be known so that the next person coming behind us doesn't have to go through this excruciating journey that we have." The Welsh government said improving cancer care was a "top priority", with a 10-year strategy focused on better prevention, diagnosis and treatment aimed at improving services and outcomes for patients of all ages.
威尔士政府还表示，通过“威尔士卫生与护理研究”机构，与英国癌症研究机构合作，为儿童和青少年提供“早期临床试验”资金。
It added that, through Health and Care Research Wales there was funding for "early stage clinical trials for children and young people" through a partnership with Cancer Research UK.