Nat Sweeney-Billy

Todd
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Re: Nat Sweeney-Billy

Post by Todd »

kport wrote:ITV has carried this story about Nat and his brother, Oliver:

http://www.itv.com/news/central/2015-07 ... leukaemia/
Very neat story ! A couple of questions I had about this - slightly off the main topic of the article:

1) Is leukaemia (as it's spelled in the article) the same thing as leukemia ? Just wondered if it's spelled differently in the U.K. than it is here (such as the different spellings of "colour" and "color" between the U.K. and the USA)

2) Did anyone else notice that the brothers had dark brown eyes in their young-age photo, but blue/hazel eyes in the more current photo ? I've heard of mothers swearing that their kids' eyes changed colors from when they were a baby, but always wondered how accurate that was. Or maybe one of the photos is of two different kids ! :shock:
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Re: Nat Sweeney-Billy

Post by dancingboy »

Todd wrote:
kport wrote:ITV has carried this story about Nat and his brother, Oliver:

http://www.itv.com/news/central/2015-07 ... leukaemia/
Very neat story ! A couple of questions I had about this - slightly off the main topic of the article:

1) Is leukaemia (as it's spelled in the article) the same thing as leukemia ? Just wondered if it's spelled differently in the U.K. than it is here (such as the different spellings of "colour" and "color" between the U.K. and the USA)

2) Did anyone else notice that the brothers had dark brown eyes in their young-age photo, but blue/hazel eyes in the more current photo ? I've heard of mothers swearing that their kids' eyes changed colors from when they were a baby, but always wondered how accurate that was. Or maybe one of the photos is of two different kids ! :shock:
The suffix - aemia relates to the word 'blood', as in anaemia, septicaemia and leukaemia. The word has Latin and Greek origins. In the US, however, the 'a' is omitted, hence, anemia and leukemia.
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Borrobil
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Re: Nat Sweeney-Billy

Post by Borrobil »

Over 10% of caucasian people change their eye colour significantly in childhood apparently darker or lighter. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9152135)
Although Leukaemia can infiltrate and thicken the surface of the eye, or cause a Iris changes; that is realy unlikely and really bad.
Incidentally growth hormone stimulates melanin (brown) production, so eye colour can vary slightly due to this as well. (PS deleted last post as it was rubbish)
~ Paul ~
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jtsw1
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Re: Nat Sweeney-Billy

Post by jtsw1 »

CJ-Rochester wrote:Wow, such an amazing story about Nat and Oliver! How interesting that Oliver was the first to take up dancing, and he has since turned his interest to football. You never know.
It's a great example for the impact of all the influences you encounter in your life. Although they have the same genes, they seem to be really different from each other.

I was moved by the story as well. If I could have "made" a Billy, I would have made him just like that: amazing ballet and acro skills, some flamboyance and a moving backstory. :D Let's hope for a long run (even though he's almost 13).
- A. -

- What do I do??
- Follow the others... marching forward to socialism!
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Sheepdog
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Re: Nat Sweeney-Billy

Post by Sheepdog »

Not for a moment wishing to diminish the tribulations endured by the Sweeney family, but in hopes of celebrating progress which has been made... (It should also be remembered that there are many kinds of cancer, even multiple kinds of leukaemia... for all I know, Nat and Oliver had one of the especially nasty ones... but....)

For many years childhood leukaemia was very bad news. I wish I could give you the figures reliably, for sure, but the number I recall seeing (in a reliable place) was: 90% mortality.

And then a new drug was discovered. It was found in a Madagascar periwinkle, a plant that people have in their gardens.

And, as I recall it, it "flipped" the numbers. From one of the more common childhood leukaemias, as I recall what I saw, now 90% survive.

Please remember my caveats from further up the page.

When you wonder if the work of places like Kew in preventing species extinction are worth the expense, remember this example! (Especially good, given that the plant was endemic to Madagascar, as are/were many species. Species loss there is particularly rapid.)

Let me end with this factoid, thank you Wikipedia...

"In children with acute leukemia who are cancer-free after five years, the cancer is unlikely to return."

(P.S... couldn't let it go... Until I found the following, I didn't have the name of the plant. It will give you more, and, I hope, reliably...

http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10 ... alCode=act
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Borrobil
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Re: Nat Sweeney-Billy

Post by Borrobil »

Very interesting and informative, that's my 'professional development' done for this month :)
This is probably a good point at which to remind people of Tom Holland 's support for the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Register, which is the only hope for the 10% who don't respond to treatment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fubk_y2 ... ubk_y2pimc

PS. The figures are now 90%+ 5 year survival, as against >10% when the ultimate weepy - the film "Last Snows of Spring" was made in the 70's, and 75% surival when Spiderman met a leukemia in 1984 http://spiderman.wikia.com/wiki/The_Kid ... Spider-Man. Now if I was a screenwriter..... sorry I digress.

Ref: you don't need. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article ... figure/F1/
~ Paul ~
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ERinVA
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Re: Nat Sweeney-Billy

Post by ERinVA »

Here's Nat's Quick-Fire Questions Interview:

https://www.facebook.com/BillyElliotthe ... =2&theater
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CJ-Rochester
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Re: Nat Sweeney-Billy

Post by CJ-Rochester »

Nat and his twin Oliver have been given the Young Achiever of the Year award for how they overcame leukaemia to achieve success in their respective fields, dance and football. There's a very nice video in this article with words from the two boys and also some clips of Nat practicing his dance moves.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/mi ... t-10181197
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tankntonic
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Re: Nat Sweeney-Billy

Post by tankntonic »

CJ-Rochester wrote:Nat and his twin Oliver have been given the Young Achiever of the Year award for how they overcame leukaemia to achieve success in their respective fields, dance and football. There's a very nice video in this article with words from the two boys and also some clips of Nat practicing his dance moves.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/mi ... t-10181197
Well. that brought a tear to me eye.
Oliver's quote "he's one of a kind ".....says so much. Just imagine the really tough days they have gone through together.
Wonderful of Ruthie to make an appearance in Birmingham for Nat and Oliver. She's very F...g special.
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tankntonic
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Re: Nat Sweeney-Billy

Post by tankntonic »

Nat and Brodie are enrolled in the Ballet School of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, aka Elmhurst School of Dance.
http://www.elmhurstdance.co.uk/
This was announced on Instagram by Nat
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEE0MajMK3W ... natsweeney
Brodie confirms:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEWEAbXxR1B ... onougher39
On the School's Twitter page, they are promoting the Summer performances in July:
https://twitter.com/ElmhurstDance/
Promotion will be a breeze if Brodie and Nat are included in the shows.
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