February 12th, 2008 - Into the Valley
Cameron underwent a general anaesthetic this morning so that the main IV port could be fitted. He was very anxious about the whole thing, but handled it really, really well. It is essentially a medication delivery tube that is fed into a blood vessel near the collar bone (jugular I suspect) and down into one of the ventricles of the heart. It is then attached to an external device that is inserted directly through the chest, to the side of the heart, where it remains in situ with two connectors protruding from his chest for the remainder of his treatment. They were going to fit this to his femoral, in the groin, due to concerns about circulation in the chest, but the surgeon established that blood flow in the chest was good, so we were very relieved, because it is common for those sited in the groin to develop infections and other complications.
While he was under Cam also had bone marrow removed from two locations on his lower back and so when he woke up he wasn?t too impressed with all of the stuff that had gone on in his sleep, but he was ravenous and tucked straight into a beef salad sandwich and some hot cooked chips very soon after waking up and ate all of that while he was still a bit groggy. A good sign I suppose. He is now unable to turn his head left or right due to the injuries he has on the left (due to the biopsy) and right sides of his neck now. He is just handling all of this so incredibly well. Better than his parents I reckon. Anyway, all of this means that his PET scan will go ahead first thing tomorrow morning, which is also great news, because the oncology team need the information from that to design a treatment plan in which they have maximum confidence.
The occupational therapist came around after lunch and was somewhat concerned that Cameron wasn?t opening up and asking the questions that are on his mind, about his illness and about the treatment, etc.. Apparently he was happy to share his concerns a few days ago, until one of us parents came along and then he just shut down. It seems he is deeply concerned about the impact all of this is having on us and is trying to hide his concerns from us, in order to somehow protect us. Today he started asking questions like: “How much is all of this treatment costing?” and “How much does medical insurance cost?” So we were encouraged when the OT spent some quality time with him later in the afternoon and got him to open up about all of his concerns. She not only walked him through an illustrated kids book that explains all about cancer, Lymphoma and chemo therapy, etc.., but also left him with an awesome computer war game to load onto his laptop, called “ReMISSION” where he gets to battle Hodgkin’s.
We also finally got our first brief education in the chemo-therapy with more to follow tomorrow. Uurgh… It’s some very serious stuff and actually very toxic. So much so that when the nurses prepare the doses they have to wear special protective clothing and masks, rather like theatre gear, to ensure they don’t get ill… It basically knocks out all of the cellular players involved in the cancer war that is going on inside Cameron, targeting of course the bad guys, but to quote “there is a lot of collateral damage”. It is likely to be administered both orally and intravenously over 1-4 day periods that are repeated over a 21 day cycle. Severe nausea and hair loss are some of the more pleasant side effects. After 21 days the patients’ system is given the opportunity to ‘recover’, at which point the cycle is generally repeated, again and again and again… in Cameron’s case over 6-8 months. All of that is likely to kick off tomorrow afternoon, if not the following day.
We are all dreading it and none more than Cameron. It’s absolutely heart-breaking to find yourself hand-holding your child into all of that. Oh God, please make all of this go away.
February 12th, 2008 at 4:44 am
I pray that you can feel the Lord holding your hand as you are holding Cameron’s through this ordeal. Lean on Him and push into Him hard, He will hold you up and never forsake you. You are in our prayers and petitions. Petrina, Hayden and Mikaela
February 12th, 2008 at 6:54 am
hi cam
I’ve been thinking of you the past days, I was shocked to hear whats up but then again VERY happy to hear you’re taking it so well!! I’m coming over to see all of you aussies some time this year, really looking forward to that!
stay strong and I’ll see you soon
all the best bro
xxx Kenneth
February 12th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Dearest Cameron,
You are looking SO handsome!! We are all thinking of you and praying that you will make a speedy recovery. Sebastian says: ‘Hope you get better and looking forward to seeing you, when we visit Australia, hopefully very soon’. Cam, do you support an English football or rugby team? Let us know. All our love, Nic, Monique, Seb and Ross
February 12th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Hi Cameron
We’re glad to see you’re coping so well. We are praying for you and Mum, Dad and your brothers every night. Please God everything will turn out well. Lots of love to you all and we will be thinking of you as always but especially tomorrow. Lots of love Katie, Gordon, Ruby, Lydia and Ella xxxxx
February 12th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Hi Cam,
You really look as if you have been through the wars with all those pipes and things, that would have scared me no end, but you look as if it is all a ‘matter of fact’. That’s my boy, you show them, when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and you are tough heh! We are pulling hard for you here in South Africa, so keep pulling hard for us. You are always in our thoughts and hope my hopes for us to see each other soon again are as strong as ever in your mind. Much love with fond memories.
Grandad Bill XXXX South Africa
February 12th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Hi Cameron,
The Bindon family sends our love. By the way, when you feel up to it, check out Pages 85, 111 and 197 in The Dangerous Book for Boys. (that’s from TJ).
Love your picture (thanks Bill) Keep that wonderful smile up Cam! Love Robert, Carolyn & TJ
February 13th, 2008 at 12:48 am
Hi Cameron, You’re looking great in the photo. I hope that you have had a good day. We prayed for you at the church prayer meeting today. God says, “I have love you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Jer 31:3b. Matt had a great time with you on Sunday. Hope to visit again maybe on Sunday. Stuart agreed to have his hair shaved for cancer today if the kids can raise $1000. They think that they can do it!! Love Trish, Stuart, Josh and Matt