When Myles McLellan was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour he was forced to take a journey from which he might never return. He was nine years old. Through twenty hours of surgery and weeks of chemo and radiation therapy, Myles’ resolve never waivered. He was a determined hero. A tiny warrior. But when the time came to return home, Myles found his childhood gone. So great were the changes in him, both physically and mentally, that nobody knew how to deal with his return. And he found himself alone.

Surviving the Treatment: The Return of Myles McLellan is a documentary that drives into the core of the aftermath of childhood cancer. It is an intimate glimpse into one family’s battle to regain their lives. And it is a brutal portrait of the social isolation experienced by children with cancer.

This film is Myles’ story. Myles told his story because he wanted people to be educated about their fear of cancer. And in doing so, ensure that no other child would have to go through what he did.

On February 16, 2006, the world lost a great storyteller. Myles’ cancer returned. This time he lost. Surviving the Treatment tells the tale of last year of his heroic mission to change one thing in this world.

Soldier of War

by Myles McLellan

One in three Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer this year.

Attention! What’s your name soldier?
Myles McLellan
What’s your age?
Nine years old. Sir!
Myles McLellan, as of today, you have been called to war.
But I’m just a kid.  I don’t want to go to war!  Please!!

Then the first bomb went off.  I was one of the three.

I was called to fight on my ninth birthday.  This war is a lot like the wars you see on TV: a lot of fighting , killing, chemical warfare, pain, and broken hearts.  I had to fight with my bare hands.  I had to fight an enemy I could not see.  And even when I was tired of fighting,  my enemy kept attacking me.

Preparing for war meant that I had to say good-bye to the life I knew.  Preaprinng for war meant that I had to have a twenty-hour brain operation.  See, the plan was to sneak up on the enemy.  The enemy, my brain tumour, had no idea that we knew it was there!

When I woke up I couldn’t talk, walk, swallow, or move.  But I could still hear. My mom and dad were behind enemy lines giving me the best ammunition to fight: prayer, laughter, love, and music.  They played my favourite song – So Complicated by Avril Lavigne.  Then my comrades from my school and faith community hit the trenches.  What the enemy didn’t know was that I wasn’t fighting on my own.  And it certainly didn’t know about the power of prayer. It was amazing how powerful this was against my enemy.  Against cancer.

We fought hard for 54 weeks.  Each day we hit it with the big guns  - radiation.  It‘s not easy.  And it isn’t pretty.  Just ask my mom – she went off the deep end when I lost all of my hair.

And then we brought out dadadadaaaaa – Captain Chemo!  Captain Chemo is great.  It kills everything – even the good stuff.  The chemicals harmed my body.  That is why I have no balance, have lost 40% of my hearing, lost my hair, and have problems with my cognitive thinking.

My relationships with my friends have also changed.  I would be lying if I told you that it was all for the good.  The truth is, I’ve lost a lot of friends.  I have classmates, but when the bell rings,  I am forgotten.  You need to know that I am the same kid I used to be.  I really need your friendship to help me heal and be a kid again.

Myles McLellan – Age 10 – Chatham Ontario