February 11th, 2008 - Sunday Observations
Today was another relatively uneventful but emotional day. Leigh’s Mom, Ingrid has arrived from Sydney and begun to wave her quiet magic over all of the boys as only a loving grand-parent is capable of. With everything that is going on Ingrid is most certainly heaven sent as Leigh is now camping next to Cameron’s bed and Owen has flu, which means he is disqualified from visiting Cameron. A shadow of concern has certainly moved over Carlton who is not quite himself. He is thinking deeply about all of this and not really letting on just how much he is actually turning over the scenarios surrounding Cameron in his mind. They are both missing their big bro around the house.
The four of us went off to church this morning and as Kate Bartlett so aptly put it, this was a great opportunity to “just soak up some God” and it most certainly was. During the service pastor Phil displayed a photo of Cameron on the giant screens and the whole church stood as he appealed to our loving Father for Cameron’s healing. It was awesome! Many people, including Phil, came up to me afterwards and asked how Cameron and all of us were doing and all were quite emotional. It was difficult, but also incredibly reassuring to see Jesus in so many people and to feel His loving presence. Thank you from Cameron to everyone at Maroochy Baptist Church for your uninhibited outpouring of dedicated prayer, sincere love and caring friendship. Carlton took the opportunity to invite himself to spend the rest of the day with Dean, Valerie and their kids, while Owen wasn ‘t to be outdone and cracked an invite to go off with Rod and Gabby and their kids, which was an answer to the challenge I began the day with, which was how both Ingrid and I were going to get to the hospital today.
So we got our hour and a half drive down the Bruce highway to see da man… And what a man he is. He has been temporarily detached from his drip, as it seems there is an imbalance between the volumes of fluid going in and coming out and besides, it looks like the main line port will be fitted in his groin tomorrow. Cameron also had an x-ray today to establish whether or not the mass had shrunk at all, however we haven’t been informed of the result, but assume that he is well enough to have the general anaesthetic since he’s been told he is fasting from midnight in anticipation of a trip to theatre. His appetite has returned with a vengeance and he looks so well, but short walks really leave him quite breathless. Interestingly, since his admission all of the eczema and allergy symptoms, which have been consistent features of his existence for the past couple of years, have all but disappeared.
We are also learning more about what having this cancer is likely to mean to Cameron in the weeks, months and years ahead. For example, we learned that the chemotherapy will make him susceptible to the childhood illnesses that we usually get only once in our lives and which he has already had – because they’re somehow registered in the immune system – such as chicken pox. This genetic memory will be erased by the chemo and so Cameron will need to be revaccinated against all of these illnesses. And during the next 8 months or so he is not allowed to venture into busy public places like shopping centres or have contact with anyone who is not entirely well. He cannot walk outdoors without shoes and socks on or eat food of any questionable origin. We haven’t yet finished reading the thick manual we’ve been handed, which is entitled something like “Dealing with Childhood Cancer”. It distills decades of clinical learning and although it is rather hard going, it is reassuring as it describes an holistic process of successfully restoring the health of a cancer patient. It not only calls for team work between the medical and family units, but consistently highlights the connection between our physical health and our emotional well-being.
And every day it seems, we are meeting people in the kid’s oncology ward who are restoring our faith in humanity. Leigh pointed out one such lady today, whom she met earlier. This mother is a foster parent to no less than 10 severely disabled, neglected and or abused kids. They’re kids that nobody wants. Many are suffering from Down’s, like the 4 year old she is caring for now, who looks barely 2 years old and as if Down’s syndrome was enough, also has cancer. Leigh told her that she must be an Angel. I can only agree. It also struck me that we tend to use this word ‘caring’ to describe a single dimension of a person’s character, when actually, it seems there are some people out there who challenge us to redefine the way the word ‘caring’ should be used to describe them, because their entire existence – every dimension – is demonstrably defined by the word ‘caring’. If we could all display just 10% of the ‘caring’ shown by this incredible lady all the problems of our world would be solved by the end of next week.
February 11th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Hi Cam,
Glad to hear you are taking things so well. I always knew when the time came for you to really show your grit you would step up to the plate. I think of and pray for you EVERY day, and I know you wouldn’t want Mom and Dad to worry too much, but they care, we all care and hope that the next few days are not going to be too difficult, not to mention the coming months, but I also want you to know that I am so very proud of you and all your brothers that our faith will be rewarded and you will get well soon. Lots of love from all the family in South Africa.
Love Grandad Bill XXX (SA)
February 11th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Hi Cam
Our thoughts and prayers are by your side. Your courage inspires all of us. We will play extra hard at our cricket matches for you and wait for you to come back and play with us soon.
From your cricket team mate Ashley,& family.