BiographyIsaac was born in Ipswich and it was an easy and fast birth. He was a very healthy boy and hardly sick to the day of diagnosis. He is and has been a very happy child. He has one sister Sophia (6) and a brother Joseph (5). They are very close.
He was keen starting his nursery and loved to play with his many friends.
1 month prior to his diagnosis he developed an awful croup-like cough and we took him to the doctors. They send him home with asthma sprays and the diagnosis of an viral infection and told us it could last 5-6 weeks.
One week later his cough didnt really get any better and we got worried and brought him back to the doctors. Again a viral infection was diagnosed. He was very wheezy and when he ran he coughed nonstop. Again they send us home with more advice to give him asthma spray and telling us it will ease up soon.
Another 2 weeks past and no improvement and now he started to throw up on top of it. Again he was diagnosed it was viral. Then the week before his diagnosis he turned blue on me (mother) and his right arm got limp - I gave him asthma spray as advised and it eased up a bit, but when his lips turned blue I brought him back to the doctors. The doctor told me just use the asthma spray twice a day and during the night if needed and it will get better. At this time he already had night sweats.
The day after the doctor saw him he had a tantrum over a chocolate bar and suddenly he got limp again and struggled to breathe and collapsed in my arms and was lifeless. I thought he died.
I rang 999 and they told me I need to resuscitate him and I did. I tried to stay calm, but I almost collapsed myself. Joseph his brother was with us all the time (he was just 3 years old at the time and Isaac was 2).
The ambulance came quickly and Joseph was able to unlock the door miraculously.
The ambulance crew tried everything but to no avail. They tried to intubate him but couldn´t get the tube in so they raced him to the hospital. There he slowly came back but didnt respond to anything and didnt stop screaming. I was so worried that he was brain damaged because of the lack of oxygen. They did all the tests under the sun and couldnt find anything.
But then they did an ultrasound on his chest and the doctors next to me had a conversation - one said:" Look his lunges are enlarged and the other said no not the lungs the heart is enlarged. They were discussing this forth and back til suddenly one doctor said: "No, he has a lump in his chest". My life just broke apart - I knew immediately he had Cancer and I thought that I will loose my son. 2 doctors pulled me aside in a different room and told me basically that he wouldn´t make it. They said he is very critical and he needs to be transported to Addenbrooks but it is risky as we can not intubate him as they found a lump in his chest that doesnt make this possible and if he has another tantrum they will loose him in the ambulance. I asked them if the lump is cancer and they told me yes.
As we are Catholics I called the priest immidiately and asked for his last rights. The priest came and gave it to him and suddenly he seemed to get better and better and he came out of his screaming stage and slowly opened his eyes. I asked him questions and he could ask them correctly. I was happy as I knew my son wasn´t brain damaged. Now they had to transport him and they organised an CATS ambulance which is specialised in childrens emergencies. By now it was 9pm and the incident at home took place at 3pm.
They transported Isaac to Addenbrooks that night and took him into the intensive care unit for 2-3 days then he was transferred to the C2 children cancer ward in Addenbrooks. People were so nice to us - the doctors and nurses and parents - very caring and helpful. Isaac had to undergo several tests including a biopsy and a CT scan, which was dangerous in itself as they couldn´t put him to sleep as the big tumor would have suffocated him. Gladly he fell asleep and the CT scan could be done, therefore they could locate the tumor. They immediately said that it is T-Cell Lymphoma, but they needed to do a biopsy. First they had to shrink the tumor a bit and so they put him on steroids for a week and that did the trick. The tumor got soft and smaller so they were ready for the biopsy. It turned out the doctors were right and because it is a very agressive cancer it was a gruesome treatment in 4 blocks. It all last from the December 2015 till End of August 2016 for the blocks to finish - then the maintenance started. Isaac recovered quickly from the heavy chemotherapy - all appetite and hair grew back.
Now he is 1 year into maintenance and is doing very well and is like any other boy his age - no one could tell he is seriously sick. He managed to go to nursery every day and he will start school this September and he is very excited about this. We want to thank all the ambulance crew, the staff at Ipswich hospital and staff at Addenbrooks, who made all this possible and saved his life. Especially thankful are we to God who saved his life and gave this precious child back to us.
|
