Skip to main content

Cancer Sucks

Cancer Sucks www.bellybuttonpanda.co.uk


Peritonitis

Wednesday 23 November 2016 saw Ryan's first check-up with the GP nurse since being discharged after his emergency surgery, which is a whole other story that I will tell in a separate post titled Peritonitis

On the way to the GP surgery in the car, Ryan begins a conversation and it goes something like this:

Cancer Sucks

Me: You need to write us a blog post-Ryan about your cancer, can we do that?

Ry: Cancer sucks, don't get it!

Me: That's it? That's your advice for anyone reading our blog. I doubt anyone reading this is actually looking for ways to get cancer.

Ry: I had so many problems growing up, trying to cope with my autism and now this lymphoma thing. I haven't been a very good child, have I?

Me: Don't ever say that. You are perfectly awesome. You have been dealt a poor hand of cards, I won't lie and you need to bluff your way through.

Ry: I know what you mean mum. I am going all-in on a high card.

How amazing is this 15-year-old boy? A survivor that is wise beyond his years. My hero. 
💜💚




Cancer Survivor, www.bellybuttonpanda.co.uk

Comments

  1. How can someone so young be so wise he puts so many adults to shame. Wisdom beyond his few years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your lovely words. I am so sorry for my delay in replying. Anyone who know Ryan, is aware his sense of humour can be very dark sometimes, but then he says, nuggets like these.

      Delete
  2. Sounds like he has a very similar attitude to the one I had! Very switched on for his age!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jess, I think humour has helped us all through as a family. Also being open, honest and to the point about things too. Trying to keep it real, yet light. Thank you for joining our journey. x

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comment. We appreciate having you along for the ride.

Popular Posts

Missing Education due to Illness

The Importance of Attendance If you read any news articles on education, correspondence from your child’s school, or are simply clued up on parenting then you will know the importance of school attendance. Schools place a great deal of focus on targets and will often offer incentives and competitions to encourage and increase attendance figures, but what if your child has a serious illness. What happens if they really are not well enough to attend school. What happens then? Attendance targets at Ryan's school are currently set at 95% attendance for the school year. Therefore realistically your child can only miss 10 school days due to illness. Medical appointments such as GP or Dentist do not count, but you are encouraged to make these appointments outside of the school day where feasibly possible. If your child consistently misses school, even if it is only one day a week, that equates to 39 days over the school year. Even missing one day in a week results in pressure on the ...

Questions to ask after Cancer diagnosis

Cancer Sucks I have shared with you Ryan's lymphoma journey where we have talked about the ups, the downs, the protocols for drugs, the side effects, but I realised recently I have never shared the questions. This post is all about what to ask when you receive a diagnosis of cancer. Receiving a cancer diagnosis is never ever going to be seen as good news. It can never be dressed up or made pretty. It is devastating, it is gut-wrenching, it is life-changing. There is so much information to process you will not think of the questions you need to ask or you will have hundreds of questions you want to ask all at once. These are just some of the questions you can ask once you have processed the news, in order to gain a better understanding of your fight ahead. General Information What type of cancer do I have? Where is it located? What are the risk factors for this disease? Is this type of cancer caused by genetic factors? Are other members of my family at risk? What lifestyle c...

Chemotherapy Cycle 5

What is Normal? With this being our penultimate cycle of chemotherapy I have had several family and friends comment to me “oh I bet you can't wait to get back to normal”. This has really thrown and upset me because it seems to come across that they have failed to comprehend the fact that we have 2-3 years of maintenance ahead and at least two more general anaesthetic surgeries. Not to mention physiotherapy as it is expected Ryan will take 12+ months to heal from the effects of being poisoned from the inside out. Normal is long way off yet. While everyone else appears to all be getting excited that Ryan is coming to an end of his chemotherapy protocol treatment, Ryan himself is becoming more and more tired with the cumulative effect of the onslaught of the chemotherapy drugs and is spending long periods of time in hospital after each cycle with infections due to his impaired immune system now as a result. Ryan is far from excited. Ryan is exhausted. We still have one more cycle t...

Peritonitis

Emergency Surgery On the morning of 25 October 2016 Ryan was complaining that his PEG feeding tube was unbearably painful. He was due for a review anyway that day at Velindre Cancer Centre and a PEG specialist nurse came for to look at Ryan. She said the site was a bit weepy and raw, she thinks he possibly caught or pulled it in the night. She is confident that it is fine and she also gave it another good clean.  A week on and we are back to square one. The district nurse came out on Monday 31 October 2016 to advance (turn) the PEG tube as is needed each week after the first month. The nurse was unable to move the disc and caused Ryan an incredible amount of pain. We ended up having to go to the Teenage Cancer Trust ward in Cardiff, where two gastro nurses met us and spent the best part of an hour, torturing Ryan while they 'forced' the PEG to move, which they eventually did. Or so they thought.  The following week, 7 November 2016, the district Nurse came again to the ...

Cancer Survivor Story

Cancer Doesn’t End When Chemo Does Ryan finished his chemotherapy treatment on his brother's 18th birthday in May 2017. The last two years and eight months were a blur of stress. Yet coming to the end of treatment coincided perfectly with Cancer Survivors Day on the first Sunday in June, each year, so what better way to mark this day than with our own survivor story. Ryan's weight at diagnosis was a staggeringly poor 42kg. He had lost so much weight not being physically able to eat due to the tumour in his throat, but with thanks to his own determination and the feeding tube that he had. Ryan's weight as we start his final chemo cycle....drum roll....prepare yourselves.... was an amazing 57kg. A year on in 2018 and despite going through treatment for the second time after relapse. Ryan weighs an impressive 65kg. Chemotherapy Cycle six Started on Monday, 1 May 2017 for hydration and the week went well without any drama. His final chemo took place on Friday, 5 May wh...