The Story Of Our Cancer.
Cancer
It all started on a saturday at night to be exact. Richard had just returned from a two week holiday. He had gone with his mum and younger brother James. Everyone seemed happy, stories told of adventure and fun.
Shirley, Dean & the girls (gemma and katie) started to get ready for the drive home. Within 10 minutes of them leaving, Richard came to me and lifted his t-shirt and started to ask me about a lump he had under left arm.
I cannot remember what my reaction was! I felt my stomach do a backflip and scored a 10 for a perfect dive!
A few days earlier I thought to myself how lucky I was to have four children who didn’t have anything wrong with them! Did I just tempt fate?
Anyway, whilst I poked and prodded Richard’s lump (roughly the size of a golf ball) I swiveled the chair I was sitting in; I was sitting at the pc at the time.
I alt-tabbed to the desktop and opened up a browser and started to search for lumps under armpits. A few searches came back as an infection of the lymph nodes; for some reason I had ignored the search results for lymphoma or cancers.
Deciding that the lump was a simple infection, I said that we’ll take a look at it again in the morning. Even then i didn’t think it was anything more serious than a simple infection!
During the night Richard was coughing and struggling to breathe. In the panic, i gave him a shot or two of an inhaler! Did I do the right thing? At the time, yes! Richard went back to sleep able to breathe.
That morning, we took a walk with my mum to the nhs clinic that had recently opened in the page moss area. We half expected it to be open on a sunday, we got to the gates and noticed it was closed. Ok, i said, lets wait until monday and take him to the doctors.
The rest of sunday went by with no problems, richard was out playing with his friends.
Monday came, I got ready for work and said my goodbyes. Little did i know i would not be at work for long.
On the way to work, i came across a young lady who was lost, she was trying to find the new roy castle foundation building on the tech park! I helped her out by pointing out some new buildings had recently been occupied by new staff and one of those buildings could be the one she is looking for. During the walk towards to where we both needed to be, i asked what she did to which she replied ‘i am a celeb event organiser’. I don’t know what i said to that, but i was interested. At that point, we reached where we needed to be, i pointed out the buildings and said goodbye.
I was only at work for 30 minutes when Angela called ‘richard has to go to hospital’ i said, ok, i’m on my way.
I pop in to see Geoff; my line manager and tell him i have to go, i’ve got to take my son in to hospital.
Thankfully, Karl, my brother was also in work and i gave him a call and asked if he’ll rush me home and then drop me and richard off at alder hey.
We got to the hospital, it was quiet. The few times i have been to alder hey, it’s always busy. We got checked in after seeing the nurse on the reception and then sat in the waiting room, we was then seen by a doctor.
They looked, prodded, CT Scans, Ultrasound scans, blood tests, oxygen and then we was moved to another area for further observation. The doctor who we had been seen by, said she had an idea what it was but did not want to say anything that might cause alarm.
A Quick Update.
Everything seems to be going o.k with Richards treatment. After his first dose of Methotrexate; he started to have side effects which are similar to meningitis. Thankfully after another week on the ward he started getting better. He did not have a reaction to the Methotrexate upon receiving his second dose. Fingers crossed he doesn’t have any when he goes in on Monday for dosage #3.
His hair is growing back, it’s like having a new born baby with fluffy baby hair
24 hour drip..
Little did I know that the chemotherapy Richard started receiving this morning will be constantly going through the night until tomorrow. It is called Methotrexate.
Richard spent most of the day playing on the nintendo ds or the PSP. Around 3 or 4pm he had to sleep due to pains in his head.
Tomorrow (tuesday) He’ll be going to theatre for a lumbar puncture and to also receive another dose of methotrexate in to his spine.
My prayers go for the young girl who was admitted to the ward around the same time as Richard when he was diagnosed with cancer. she seems to be having it rough at the moment and I feel blessed Richard is not that bad (and I hope he does not get any worse).
At least he’s home for Christmas
Good news is Richard is home for Christmas..
We’ve just received a call from the hospital and Richard has to go in on Sunday for 7pm to be hydrated ready for his new chemo treatment. He’ll also receive his usual lumba puncture on Tuesday.
I’ll be expecting some side effects from the chemotherapy as he’s not had any for three weeks. It will hit him hard.
Thanks for reading and i do wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. I also wish that 2009 brings you great health.
Anna: If you read this, fingers crossed for the baby, I’ll be thinking of you and gavin…..xx
No updates for a couple of weeks….
Sorry for the lack of an update over the last couple of weeks, there hasn’t been much to report. Apart from the usual money worries that most of us have at the moment.
Richard is back at the hospital tomorrow for another blood test, his chemo treatment has been delayed by another week due to his platelet count being low (3rd week on the trot). If it is low again after tomorrows test, he’ll be returning to the hospital on Friday for his 6th blood transfusion.
I think this certainly shows the importance of giving blood to help those that really need it. If you want to do something worthwhile and you cannot afford to donate to a charity, give blood, you’ll help save a life, maybe a child, maybe your own child.