Scan results

We were told the results of Josh's latest MRI scan this week. Sadly it appears that the proton therapy treatment didn't shrink the tumor as we had hoped it would. We have been told by his doctors that they have found a further growth in his spinal cord but it is unclear at this time as to what it is. Josh is displaying some new worrying symptoms which are to be investigated further by the medical teams.


We have talked to may other proton families and have used the phrase "scanxiety" as each scan brings with it new worries that we have been told never go away even years after the all clear! Sadly many of our friends seem to be suffering at the moment and aren't doing as well as they had hoped. Perhaps it's a parent's intuition to suffer from scanxiety as ultimately they know what is going to be found before it happens.


It breaks our hearts watching Josh and so many of the children and families we have come to share our lives with continue to suffer on a daily basis. Each of the parents looks at each other with the same understanding look and silently cries: "How dare cancer do this to my child." This disease robs so many of these children of years of their lives and affects families in ways that we can't even begin to explain. It's an ongoing battle for all of the families which we know will continue for some time to come whilst all the children want is to be "normal".
We look upon Josh and see how far he is from "normal", cancer and it's treatment has left him scarred for life, unable to walk, sick with numerous other health problems and caused long term side effects that we can't even see yet. Despite this long road ahead of us - we are getting there!
September is Childhood Cancer awareness month in the States. We have seen through so many children that early diagnosis is the key, but lack of funding and research into childhood cancers often means that symptoms aren't recongnised until it's to late causing a delay in it being diagnosed. We have seen with friends that this delay quite simply can be the difference between life and death. We would urge all parents to be aware of the signs of cancer in children and trust your instincts - you know your child better than any doctor! Childhood cancer is sadly not as rare as you may think it is. www.bechildcanceraware.org