30 weeks to go
3 more Lumbar Punctures
3 more intrathecal chemotherapy treatments
7 more Vincristine chemotherapy treatments
27 oral methotrexate chemotherapy treatments
210 oral mercaptopurine chemotherapy treatments
83 weeks! Has it really been that long? Has it only been that long?
It seems that cancer has become a huge part of our lives and yet 83 weeks doesn’t seem that long. However it feels like we have been doing this for years. I am torn between vividly remembering the day that we found out Elizabeth had Leukaemia against not remembering a day when i didn’t have to dish out the medicines or worry about fevers. I don’t know how many blood transfusions or platelet transfusions Elizabeth had or how many different chemotherapy treatments she had as the beginning is all a blur of needles and drugs but I know that giving blood and platelets saves lives, I have seen it in action.
Thursday 30th October 2014 will be a very important day in our house. It will be the end of treatment, it will be our fifth wedding anniversary and it will be a day I never forget. It will be the day my baby beats cancer.
Some people ask me how I cope, I just do. You would too. Parents of children with cancer are not super heroes or blessed with special powers, we are no different to the mum you see walking down the street or the dad filling his car in the petrol station. In fact next week it could be them or you, and the surprising thing is that you will cope too. You cope because you have to and then you cope because you were coping and then you start to live because coping is no fun anymore you want to have more. Cancer doesn’t stop you living and I don’t cope anymore, I live life and ensure that we live life too.
One thing that I want to do though is ensure that other children get the chance to live too and early diagnosis is a great way to ensure that happens. Too many children are diagnosed with cancer after months and months of visiting a doctor. To help you to BE INSPIRED the parents from Elizabeths ward have come together to create a facebook page, the faces of ward 84, which details different childhood cancers and blood conditions along with signs and symptoms. Read it, look at the smiling kids and BE INSPIRED. Most importantly know what to look for because cancer doesn’t care who it affects and it could be someone you know and love. Please like and share it might just save a childs life.
