From the World of Children's Cancer...
In reality children's cancer is much more than smiling faces and bald heads.
I've written many stories about our daughter, Kaidan and her cancer story. I've chronicled her diagnosis, the treatment, the aftermath. I've discussed the financial strain, the chronic health conditions, and the medical errors we've dealt with. I don't really know what to write about today. I could write endlessly about our lives, before cancer and after cancer. There is no shortage of sadness and pain. There is also no shortage of life lessons and happiness. The truth is, cancer brings out the very worst experiences you'll ever have, and it highlights the very best things in life. As a 'cancer family', you get to witness humanity. You become hypersensitive to the important things in life. You gain new friends who will build you up when you cannot do it alone. It's an amazing, horrible, ugly, beautiful thing - all at the same time. In June 2007, Kaidan was diagnosed with a high risk form of leukemia (T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia), at the age of 5. She completed her treatment in November 2009 and is currently cancer free. Depending on where you get your statistics, you could probably consider her 'cured', although I won't look at it that way until November 9, 2019 - 10 years after her last chemotherapy. As a result of the ridiculously harsh treatments available for childhood cancer, Kaidan is now plagued with chronic health conditions. She has severe GI issues, and has been hospitalized multiple times with internal bleeding. Her bones are weak and she has had surgeries to try and rebuild and strengthen them. She never feels good, she's always tired, and she is always in pain. Imagine that life - as an adult it would be horrific, but as a 15 year old, it's unfathomable. She should be living life, enjoying every moment. And she does - to some degree. But it's mostly for show. Sometimes, she just can't do it. She just can't keep up with the life that she's supposed to lead. It's exhausting - pretending that you feel good, pretending you aren't in pain. We don't know what the future holds for Kaidan. I suppose we don't know what it holds for any of us, but hers seems especially uncertain. So we choose to recognize the good things and hope for greater things. You will never see Kaidan without a smile on her face - ever. She is an example of perfection, as are all of these kids - the fighters, the survivors, and the angels. Mystee Sudbury
0 Comments
A few years back a friend of ours asked if one of his buddies could do an interview for a school project. Thought we would share it.  :Liam was diagnosed in October 2013, he was only 13 months old, with Rhabdomyosarcoma. He went through a year of intense chemo, months of radiation, and multiple surgeries. Finally began remission in September 2014. Unfortunately, that only lasted a short 2 1/2 months. In that short period of time his tumor grew to the size of a golf ball. He went through an even more intense chemo treatment and Liam had his bladder, prostate, and tumor removed on April 7th 2015. He finished chemo September 14th 2015. Liam went in for his one-year scans and once again the tumor is back. This will be his third battle, at the age of 4, with this awful cancer. He just had the tumor removed again, in October he begins 3 months of chemo, some radiation, followed by a bone marrow transplant. His family is going to also try some different medical approaches this time around. They will be intergrading
alternative and natural medicines along with conventional therapies. The clinic that offers the more holistic approach does not take any medical insurance. Changing lifestyle habits for Liam is completely necessary at this time. His body needs to stay strong and as healthy as it can be kept.. It is already so damaged from.the past years of treatments. The hope is that his quality of life can support his quantity of life. Late January 2015, Alexandria (Ali) became ill with croup. After 2 weeks she returned to her old self; happy, loving and friendly to everyone! About a week later, she started to show symptoms of croup again but this time she would sleep all throughout the day. She complained of leg pain and was very pale with dark circles under her eyes. Her parents assumed it was the flu and brushed off the leg pain as body aches that come with it. When Ali's grandma found out about her being sick, she had a strong feeling that Ali should be seen by a doctor and have blood work done. An appointment was shceduled for the following week. The next day, Ali complained of severe leg pain and refused to walk. The pain was so bad that they called the doctor again and explained the symptoms. They were told to take Ali to the ER to have her examined. ER doctors thought she may have a hip infection. They took xrays and did her blood work. When the blood work came back, Ali's parents were told she might have leukemia. Their hearts sunk as they looked at their sleeping girl. Within the hour, Ali was taken to Primary Children's Hospital where they did more blood work which confirmed her diagnosis of 'very high risk' b-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Since her diagnosis on February 17, 2015, she has had several rounds of chemotherapy, medications, lumbar punctures, blood transfusions, allergic reactions and a few complications in between. Overall, Ali is doing great and her family is looking forward to the day when she completes her chemotherapy in July 2017.
|
Travis ShawArchives
December 2016
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed