My Daughter's Cancer - Thank you to everyone that donated to TCT

meanredspider

A few years ago, a load of you donated to Teenage Cancer Trust - in particular buying jerseys. TCT really supported my son through his Ewing's Sarcoma

Well, sh!t has happened again and my daughter, Eve, has been diagnosed with acute leukaemia and is on the TCT ward in Addenbrooke's in Cambridge receiving treatment. She seems to be responding well and the NHS have been brilliant - her chemo was started 20 hours after diagnosis. The TCT wards are amazing though so I really want to thank you for your donations - we hadn't expected to be needing their support again - we're truly grateful.

ETA - anybody that gives blood, thank you too. Eve's receiving a transfusion right now and we're just saying how altruistic it is.

corriebee1

Farkin' ell MRS. That sucks @ss.

I cycle past Addenbrookes most days so will send much positive vibe'age on the way!

keef66

Bloody hell, you're not having a lot of luck are you. Best wishes for a successful outcome.

Is Addenbrookes the closest they could accommodate her? That's a bloody long way for you isn't it?

I've been a blood donor for 40 years but having a break at the mo because my hb levels are staying annoyingly low after giving blood...

meanredspider

We've a lot of family around Cambridge - I consider it my "home town" as does Mrs MRS. There's nothing in the Highlands so it was either Glasgow again (360 mile round trip by car and nowhere to stay) or somewhere else. We're staying at my folks' place in Newmarket when we aren't "on shift" in the ward.

I've always believed in the second, less-well-known, part of "carpe diem" : "place no trust in tomorrow" - you just never know how your life is going to be turned on its end (literally in this case) overnight.

LukeTC

That's rough, thinking of you and your family at this tough time.

After donating blood for a couple years I eventually switched to giving platelets but taking asprin or ibuprofen stops you being able to donate so haven't managed to this month which is annoying.

gabriel959

Shit - that sounds crap. I hope she makes a full recovery.

If you want to go for a ride to vent or whatever, let me know, it would be good to get to know another forum user!

meanredspider

I used to donate blood and platelets but my frequent work travel to places that they don't like has prevented me for a while. Mrs MRS used to donate too but fainted every time so she eventually became more trouble than it was worth. We're incredibly grateful to those that can and do donate.

keef66

meanredspider wrote:

We've a lot of family around Cambridge - I consider it my "home town" as does Mrs MRS. There's nothing in the Highlands so it was either Glasgow again (360 mile round trip by car and nowhere to stay) or somewhere else. We're staying at my folks' place in Newmarket when we aren't "on shift" in the ward.

I've always believed in the second, less-well-known, part of "carpe diem" : "place no trust in tomorrow" - you just never know how your life is going to be turned on its end (literally in this case) overnight.

Well I live in Newmarket and work in Cambridge, so if you need any lifts or errands running, just shout.

You're right about carpe diem though.

meanredspider

keef66 wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

We've a lot of family around Cambridge - I consider it my "home town" as does Mrs MRS. There's nothing in the Highlands so it was either Glasgow again (360 mile round trip by car and nowhere to stay) or somewhere else. We're staying at my folks' place in Newmarket when we aren't "on shift" in the ward.

I've always believed in the second, less-well-known, part of "carpe diem" : "place no trust in tomorrow" - you just never know how your life is going to be turned on its end (literally in this case) overnight.

Well I live in Newmarket and work in Cambridge, so if you need any lifts or errands running, just shout.

You're right about carpe diem though.

Thank you - we'll keep that in mind in case we get in a travel bind.

gabriel959 wrote:

shoot - that sounds crap. I hope she makes a full recovery.

If you want to go for a ride to vent or whatever, let me know, it would be good to get to know another forum user!

Thank you - I brought my bike up from Wilts so I may take you up on that in time.

We're on the 9th floor of the hospital and can almost see where we used to live on Hinton Way in Gt Shelford

veronese68

Bloody hell, don't really know what to say. There's nothing I can really offer other than say I'll be thinking of you all and hope the treatment goes well.
Agree about giving blood. Unfortunately I can't any more as a result of the chemo I had. My son does give blood regularly, has done since he was 16.

keef66

meanredspider wrote:

We're on the 9th floor of the hospital and can almost see where we used to live on Hinton Way in Gt Shelford

What a curious, small world we live in! My wife and I lived in a rented flat on Hinton Way back in the mid eighties before we were married! Over a hairdressers. No heating apart from an open fire, and no loft insulation so it was literally freezing in the winter.

meanredspider

keef66 wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

We're on the 9th floor of the hospital and can almost see where we used to live on Hinton Way in Gt Shelford

What a curious, small world we live in! My wife and I lived in a rented flat on Hinton Way back in the mid eighties before we were married! Over a hairdressers. No heating apart from an open fire, and no loft insulation so it was literally freezing in the winter.

When we moved to Scotland, we sold our house to a developer and he knocked it down and built two bigger houses. I'm not sure the hairdressers is there any more - the Railway pub, which used to do great Thai food, has closed.

roger_merriman

Ouch, hard times!

I normally give blood but I'm back waiting to be poked and prodded at various hospitals so they will not touch me for the time being.

eyko

LukeTC wrote:

After donating blood for a couple years I eventually switched to giving platelets but taking asprin or ibuprofen stops you being able to donate so haven't managed to this month which is annoying.

Due to low blood pressure I've not been able to donate blood for a number of years. I'd not heard about donating platelets before so going to look into that now. Thank you.

meanredspider

Just a note for those of you with teenage kids: the Dr here reckons Eve had only had leukaemia for 2 weeks when she was diagnosed- the dr was very pleased by how quickly she was diagnosed. Teenagers are often slow to be diagnosed because teenagers aren't expected to get cancer (whilst waving a bucket for TCT in a mall, several people said to me "Can teenagers get cancer?").

It's worth reading up on the symptoms of cancer - especially in teenagers. The TCT website is very good and TCT will come into schools and educate kids. Since 1-in-2 of us is likely to experience cancer in our lives and early detection is key, getting educated is one of the best things we can do for ourselves and our families.

I hope I don't sound preachy but an early diagnosis can literally be the difference between outcomes.

In the meantime, Eve seems to be progressing OK.

keef66

That's good to hear; early diagnosis and current treatments do give her the best chance of beating it.

Our 2 boys are now both young adults, and appear sensible enough to seek medical advice and / or talk to us about health issues.

meanredspider

In case you're wondering what someone about to get leukaemia looks like, this was my daughter about 4 weeks ago

veronese68

meanredspider wrote:

In the meantime, Eve seems to be progressing OK.

Excellent, hope it carries on that way. Glad they caught it early.
Agree with you about education. I was initially misdiagnosed and lost a few months as a result. Obviously I'm still here, but the treatment could have been less. I only went back because I asked my uncle, a retired GP and he examined me and told me to get back to the dr's urgently. A friend of mine now has terminal prostate cancer. An early test he had was inconclusive which delayed things similarly. Had it been caught earlier the diagnosis may not have been terminal. If anybody ever has any doubts don't hesitate to get a second opinion.

meanredspider

Yes. The dr was reluctant to give Eve a blood test but she insisted (partly because she needed a note for university) - a few hours later she was being told to call an ambulance to take her to the nearest A&E.

rick_chasey

It's a decent hospital for this kind of thing.

Fingers crossed.

gabriel959

meanredspider wrote:

Yes. The dr was reluctant to give Eve a blood test but she insisted (partly because she needed a note for university) - a few hours later she was being told to call an ambulance to take her to the nearest A&E.

That is part of what is wrong with the health service in this country.

I had a really bad cold before Christmas and it turned into a really painful cough and chest pain. I went to the doctors here, who spent 2 min, and gave me some antibiotics. I suggested X-rays as I did not have any other symptoms apart from the pain, she said no. I then had to go to Spain for holiday whilst I was taking them, the day I finished my cough had gone but I had a really painful pain in my chest. Cue a quick visit to A&E, I had some x-rays within 15 minutes of me going through the door and within the hour I had seen a doctor who confirmed it was only muscle pain. The doctor couldn't understand why I was not given an xray as it was clear that I only had muscle pain.

Nothing like your daughter's of course, and I am very glad that she is being well attended, but I always feel that you got to be very pro-active with the health service in this country.

meanredspider

Yup - I've learned that you need to help the NHS along. I don't always find that easy and I'd consider myself articulate and assertive. I'm so glad that Eve pressed for a blood test. It has been quite complicated too: she was seen by her university GP in Glasgow under the advice of our family GP on the Black Isle. She was then admitted to A&E near Heathrow and finally shipped by ambulance to Addenbrooke's for treatment.

Generally the NHS works but there are circumstances and individual health practitioners who let it down.

keef66

And something I've noticed with various older relatives, the older you get, the more likely you are to be told that something is just part of the ageing process. Wife's grandma had an inoperable ovarian tumour the size of a grapefruit before she was properly diagnosed.

Whenever I go to the GP now I usually have a pretty good idea what's wrong with me and what I'd like to happen. You do need to be polite but assertive sometimes.

navt

Chapeau to you for being strong. Best wishes to you and your family. Hope Eve recovers soon. I give blood religiously, only because I can and it make a difference so next pint will be in her name.

I have two soon-to-be teenagers so this resonates with me.

meanredspider

navt wrote:

Chapeau to you for being strong. Best wishes to you and your family. Hope Eve recovers soon. I give blood religiously, only because I can and it make a difference so next pint will be in her name.

I have two soon-to-be teenagers so this resonates with me.

Thank you so much.

roger_merriman

meanredspider wrote:

Yup - I've learned that you need to help the NHS along. I don't always find that easy and I'd consider myself articulate and assertive. I'm so glad that Eve pressed for a blood test. It has been quite complicated too: she was seen by her university GP in Glasgow under the advice of our family GP on the Black Isle. She was then admitted to A&E near Heathrow and finally shipped by ambulance to Addenbrooke's for treatment.

Generally the NHS works but there are circumstances and individual health practitioners who let it down.

I see a lot of GP/Paramedics/A&E/Hospital due to the nature of the my job, and yes the quality does vary.

For myself since have a condition GP's and such tend to look worried since they are out of their comfort zone.

meanredspider

Eve's treatment is going really well so far. 4 more days of chemo. Staff in the TCT ward could not be better - they are utterly fabulous much like they were in Glasgow.

gabriel959

Fantastic stuff! Keep us updated.

wolfsbane2k

Sorry to hear this MRS, really sorry.
Glad that the treatment is going well, and that you've got into a hospital with a ward that specialises in this.
I hope she makes a good recovery.

I used to give blood religiously until last year when they stopped the blood waggon turning up at work, so this is an apt reminder to go and find a new donation spot.

My charity of choice at the moment Is Macmillan, but. I'll see what I can do to support the tct.
W

meanredspider

Thanks, W2k - it's great that you support Macmillan so no need to change. I try to stick to supporting one charity as it creates a bit more consistency.

All blood donations are gratefully accepted though. Eve's on her 2nd bag of whole blood just now and she's had one of platelets. The chemo obviously wipes out much of her own.

meanredspider

A couple of weeks on and Eve has done well under the treatment - the doctors are very happy with how well she has taken the chemo and raft of other drugs. The consultant said to a bunch of students "This is a perfect example of someone doing well on AML treatment" and called her "Madam Resilient" whilst another doctor has called her the "perfect patient". We were very lucky that she was diagnosed very early before some of the complications start. Being on a cancer ward makes you realise how badly things can go as I learned last time I spent time on one (120 nights with Charlie).

We are hoping that the chemo has done its job - still a while before we see how that goes. Youngest son, Hughie, has been down from home to be tested as a potential bone marrow donor should it come to that. We hope not. He's been a trooper.

The staff on the TCT ward have been fabulous and, even though we have BUPA cover through work, I can't imagine it would have been any better. This is how all wards should be. Eve is getting the latest and best drug for targeting the chemo.

Thanks again for all of your support - it makes a big difference especially in those dark moments at 2am.