The Swallows Australian Edition Magazine

2nd & 3rd cycles of chemo came & went. Our
routine was better. We were even allowed
home after the hydration & Cisplatin had been
given to Oscar, the 5FU could be infused whilst
Oscar was at home. The pump was then
disconnected by a member of the Halifax
Community Team who also performed regular
blood tests whilst Oscar was at home. I had
Oscar’s head shaved just after the 2nd cycle
as he didn’t want to watch it fall out & also he
could control when it went. We as a family
decided early on that we would learn about
each part of Oscar's treatment as it was
happening instead of saturating our brains with
too much information at the same time.
Preparations soon began for Oscar’s
radiotherapy. We met his radiotherapy
Consultant & arrangements were made to see
the machine, meet the incredible staff & for
Oscar to have his mask made. Oscar had 33
sessions in the machine, each one getting
tougher as he became more unwell. Oscar's
skin burnt in three places on his neck but
miraculously healed before the 33 sessions
were done.
Every morning Monday to Friday we travelled
from Eckersley House on the grounds of the
LGI to St James's Hospital & each morning
Oscar listened to the same CD so he would be
able to gauge his time in the machine. One of
the songs I found quite odd was 'Happy' by
Pharrell Williams. Happy we weren’t, but we
were just getting on with it. We stayed at
Eckersley House which is within excellent
distance to the LGI during Radio as Oscar
would become too unwell to travel the distance
on a daily basis. Oscar was prescribed a drug
called Nabilone which is artificial cannabis. He
soon became known as the Space Cadet as
he was so relaxed during his radio.
Radiotherapy was tough but he received A1,
gold standard treatment & care. 2 weeks into
radio Oscar required morphine which quickly
needed to be doubled. The only thing with that
was it affected his blood pressure so we had a
short weekend break on the children's ward.
By June 20th all Oscar's nasty treatments were
over & he had a couple of weeks break before
the immuno started. Oscar’s bloods were so
healthy after the 1St week he could start early,
3 injections weekly for 6 months initially. The
immuno (interferon) was kick starting his own
immune system, hunting out any nasty cells
that might still be lurking.
Oscar is now almost 2yrs out of treatment. Last
scan was a good result. He is now having MRIs
twice a year & checked regularly at ENT in
Huddersfield & by the paediatrician. His
treatment was incredible & we will always be
grateful to all the people involved on his
journey. Life is different & we will never take
anything for granted. We still have our boy.
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