Significant Improvements for Cancer-Stricken Boy Who Resisted Chemo

New Ulm, Minn. – A 13-year-old cancer patient who fled the state with his mother rather than face chemotherapy is now well enough to work on the family farm and jump on his trampoline, a family spokesman said.

Daniel Hauser, who has Hodgkin's lymphoma, started chemotherapy treatments at Children's Hospitals and Clinics in May. He has finished six partial rounds of chemo, and has two treatments more left, said Dan Zwakman, the Hauser family spokesman.

"Danny's tumor is just about gone," Zwakman said. "He should be done with all of the chemo by the middle of September."

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The family had said an earlier round of chemotherapy made Daniel feel sick and hardened their resolve against further treatment. A Brown County judge ordered the treatment anyway, prompting Daniel and Colleen Hauser to leave their home in Sleepy Eye and spend a week on the lam.

The family prefers natural healing practices suggested by a religious group called the Nemenhah Band, which says it follows American Indian beliefs.

In May, the family agreed to accept chemotherapy when doctors vowed to integrate some natural treatments favored by the Hausers.

Although integrative medicine doctors said such therapy was not meant as an alternative to traditional cancer treatment, it can help patients deal with the effects of chemotherapy.

Zwakman said the family attributes most of Daniel's success to alternative treatments such as the supplements and acupressure that Daniel used in preparation for chemotherapy, but the parents do give a little credit to chemotherapy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.