On Monday night, Dexter was air-lifted to Randwick Childrens' Hospital. Helicopter! Wollongong doctors suspected intussception. Luckily, it fixed itself and surgery was not required - though Dexter's previous surgeon wanted to be the only one to cut into Dexter and made himself immediately available when he heard. While in hospital, our cheeky man had visits from one of the top oncologists in Australia. She just wanted to check in and make sure he was ok.
He's home again today - sleeping and happy again. Thank goodness!
We have entered a Relay for Life team in his honour - also remembering June. xx If you have a spare couple of dollars, the website is http://relay.cancercouncil.com.au/2013/kiama_relay_for_life/Love-Dexter All money goes to cancer research.
This is Dexter's Cancer Journey. Thought you might like to hear/read about it. 2012 was a tough year for us. 2013 was looking great - with Dexter's cancer-clear scan in January and Charlotte born on the 2nd January.
Last year, Dexter was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma (liver cancer). Our hearts broke and we hardly had the energy to face the world. This was just one thing in a number of issues Dexter had faced in his 12 months of life.
Just after Dexter's first birthday, his paediatrician detected his enlarged liver. He sent us for blood tests and ultrasounds. These
indicated he had a mass, needing treatment. We were sent to Sydney for a CT scan, and our worst fears were confirmed when the specialists spoke the word "cancer". Lumps were also detected on Dexter's lungs and he was scheduled for an immediate biopsy. Thankfully, these lumps were cleared as simply enlarged lymph nodes and not additional cancers.
Dexter had surgery (a lung biopsy and the insertion of his central line) in October 2012, which went to plan. Unfortunately, his recovery did not. Dexter was given pain relief, which he was allergic to and he stopped breathing. This was unexpected and Dexter needed to be resuscitated (twice in one day). This meant Dexter spent much longer than the predicted one night recovering in hospital.
Once he had recovered from surgery, his chemotherapy treatments began. Typical liver cancer treatments can cause permanent hearing loss in patients. With Dexter's already diagnosed vision impairment, the thought of him losing his hearing as well was terrifying. We convinced his oncology team to devise an alternate treatment for our son. They developed a very individualised plan for him, consulting oncologists all around the world. The treatment they gave him was relatively new and he was closely monitored.
Dexter had four rounds of chemotherapy over the next four months. His first two treatments consisted of 96 hours of continual chemotherapy and his next two treatments consisted of 48 continuous hours. He became sick with an infection after his first round of
chemotherapy and required four days hospitalisation, isolation and antibiotics.
After the first round of chemotherapy, Dexter's hair fell out in chunks and our hearts broke with every strand. We took him to a local barber and had his head shaved. Dexter now looked like a cancer patient. His beautiful eyelashes and his eyebrows became thinner and thinner, until they were pretty much gone.
After four chemotherapy rounds, the surgeon was ready to operate. His five and an half hour surgery went perfectly. The predicted 24 hour ICU recovery period was drawn out to six days. Once again, Dexter reacted to his pain medication and stopped breathing. He also developed numerous infections, which needed isolation and treatment. All together, Dexter spent 11 days in hospital, recovering from his surgery.
Once he was well enough, he started his final two rounds of chemotherapy. These were both 96 hour treatments. He required hospitalisation for platelet and blood transfusions after each treatment. We travelled to the local hospital weekly for blood tests and line care to ensure his chances of infection were minimal.
Following a scan in January 2013, Dexter was given the all clear and our hearts learned to sing again. He was scheduled to have his central
line removed in February. A day after getting this call and the day before this final surgery was scheduled; Dexter developed an infection in the line. This resulted in an ambulance ride from our local hospital to Sydney. Instead of a simple day procedure, Dexter had another four days in hospital, to overcome the infection.
When Dexter was in hospital, he won the heart of a lovely ward nanny, Margaret. A ward nanny sits with the children for a while, so their exhausted parents can get a few moments of fresh air, or a coffee. Margaret has been a ward nanny for over a decade, but felt extra love for Dexter. She has maintained contact with our family, and we are so grateful for her love of him.
As luck would have it, the day Dexter's mass was detected, we discovered he would be a big brother. His sister, Charlotte was born in January 2013, a week before he was cleared of cancer. The pregnancy was stressful because we had endured many bad experiences with Dexter. To top it off, he was considered "cytotoxic" for almost two weeks during each of his chemotherapy treatments. His body fluids were therefore considered toxic to us and the unborn baby. Extra care was needed just to give him a hug and kisses were out of the question during this cytotoxic time.
Throughout this eight month ordeal, Dexter rarely complained and never made a fuss. We can see how sick Dexter really was because we can see how much energy he now has.
My webpage http://lovedexter.weebly.com/index.html
You can also find him on facebook - he's got a big fan base!
Here's to a fantastic rest of the year. Hope everyone is well and happy.
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