Making Skiing Plans for Nigel

Not only do I have a weakness for telling rock stars' stories, I also love kids. Who doesn't? Especially kids who kick cancer's ass. This is my little buddy Nigel, who I wrote a story about this week. He is back to skiing after two years of cancer treatments—before he can even walk again unassisted.

Cancer survivor goes skiing

Nigel hits the slopes. (Photo courtesy of Tim Holland)

Nigel Holland beats the odds

By ARRISSIA OWEN TURNER
Reporter

Big Bear Grizzly

Published: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 7:47 AM PST

Nigel Holland set a goal for himself: to ski again before he could walk. Nigel recently met that goal, just a little more than two years after he was first diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

The 9-year-old Big Bear Valley resident was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a solid cancerous tumor in the cerebellum of the brain. It metastasized to his spine. His illness galvanized the community, resulting in Team Nigel. The group helped organize fundraisers to raise money for the family’s medical bills related to Nigel’s condition.

But the biggest hurdles were left for Nigel. After surgery to remove the tumor, Nigel developed a neurological disorder that caused him to lose his ability to speak due to cerebella mutism. Nigel has nerve damage in his left eye and uses a rolling chair that he pushes with his legs to get around. He is starting to take steps unassisted.

Within four months, with the help of hearing aids and therapy, he was able to speak again. Nigel is no longer undergoing chemotherapy at Children’s Hospital of Orange County.

“The doctors said Nigel’s latest MRI was stable and shows no new signs of cancer,” says Tim Holland, Nigel’s father. “Nigel has improved in everything—speech, writing, getting around. He has more questions than I have answers. He is amazing.”

Nigel’s physical therapist helped him hit another milestone recently by working with Nigel on his balance and muscle memory, Tim says. After setting a goal to ski again before he conquered walking, Nigel accomplished just that. Before his diagnosis, Nigel was an avid skier on the Snow Summit Race Team’s development team.

Nigel, skiing in Mammoth, pre-diagnosis

Muscle memory is key to Nigel’s ski success. Just like riding a bike, muscle memory consolidates a specific motor task into memory through repetition. When a body movement is repeated many times, like skiing, a long-term muscle memory is created, eventually allowing it to be performed without conscious effort. The muscles remembered.

Nigel says he is feeling stronger. “It’s fun,” he says about getting back to the ski resort. He looks forward to the day when he can rejoin his friends on the hill from the ski team, he says.

“His next goal is to walk,” Tim says. “His vision is definitely improving and his last hearing test they said it was stable.” Aside from hitting the slopes, his biggest accomplishment this year was returning to school, Tim says.

Nigel is a third-grader at Baldwin Lane Elementary School. “He is able to be there for seven hours,” Tim says. “That would have been impossible a year ago. Nigel never complains that he can’t walk or he has trouble doing things. He is one amazing little boy.”

To read the original story in the Grizzly, click below:

http://bigbeargrizzly.net/articles/2010/12/17/news/doc4d082b09c2dd0128216760.txt