SORRY IT"S SO LONG!

I'm posting this now, not just to show more pictures of my puppy or to show you all how wonderful my little family is. I'm posting this so you can understand a little bit more about me and my family.



In April of 2010 my eldest son, Blake, then 3 was diagnosed with a milignant brain tumor (For those of you that want to know what it's called it's: Anaplastic Ependymoma). He was rushed in for emergency surgery to reduce the pressure on his brain caused by a build up of fluid (We were told if we had of waited 3 more days we would have lost him). 4 days later he had a massive 10 hour surgery to resect the tumor.



Before the surgery he was a happy talkative 3 year old boy, he had reached all of his milestones and was very active. Post surgery he was like a new born baby. He couldn't talk, walk or eat. He couldnt even swallow his own saliva and had to be suctioned 40+ times a day to prevent him from drowning. He used a communication book to point to pictures, this was how we knew what he wanted at any given time.
It took 3 months of intense physio, speech and occupational therapy to get him to half of what he was before the surgery.

After the surgery we were told that the doctors had gotten everything. We were extatic. But our joy wasnt to last, 2 centimetres of tumor was left.
Blake had 2 months of chemotherapy followed by another 7 hour operation to try to remove the remaining tumor. It wasnt succesfull. His tumor is now inoperable.

Once he had recovered from the second surgery he went on to have 7 weeks of radiation therapy. Followed by another 4 months of chemotherapy.

In Feb 2011 Blake was put into remission. We were so thrilled. We spent a whole year with him loving every single day, we went to hospital appointments when required, we had MRIs, Lumber Punctures, Audio and Visual appointments.

In December '11 we rescued a 4 year old Boxer cross named Dashy-Boy. He was like a 3rd son to me.



2 months after getting Dash things started to go down hill, Dash's health deminished greatly and he woke up one morning unable to walk. We took him to the vet and he told us the horrible news. Dash had hipdysplasia, a pocket of jelly had burst in his spine and the nerve messages werent getting through to his back legs. I made the heart wrenching decision to put my boy to sleep as the treatments available were likely not to work.

6 weeks after Dash passed away (Feb 2012) Blake had a routine MRI scan. It wasnt a good result. The tumor was back, but this time it was in his spine, it is exceptionally rare for this kind of tumor to spread to other parts of the body.
Blake underwent another 7 hour operation to Debulk the tumor. Because of where the tumor was situated the doctors didnt think they would be able to get it all.
They did an amazing job and got 99% of the tumor.



7 days after having major spinal surgery Blake was back running around playing.
He went on to have another 6 weeks of radiation therapy on his whole head and spine. This is the last thing we can do for him now, there are no other treatments known to cure Ependymoma.
He is a happy healthy little boy again. He is nearly 100% back to what he was before he was diagnosed. The only thing that is visible is a slight facial paralasys and he is deaf in his right ear.



Blake wishes on eyelashes, it's just something cute we do.
While he was having treatment this second time around he wished he had a dog again.

We have been told that Blake has a less 10% chance of survival (closer to Zero then ten). We have also been told by his oncologist that it is only a matter of months before the tumor comes back. Because we have done everything we can do to stop it, we are out of options.
I need to see my child smiling, if only for a while. He wished for a dog, so we got one. She is wonderful, she is keeping our minds off the future and bringing smiles and joy to all of us.

Beautiful story Welcome to the forum!

WoW... I'm rendered speechless.

Words can't express how sorry I am. At the same time however, I can't believe how brave you both are.

Kelly and I are Wishing nothing but the very best for all your family, but most of all Blake.


I'm so very sorry. I wish I could say more or say the perfect thing.... But alas I can't. Enjoy your time together and I'll be praying for a miracle.

~Chris~

Miracles Happen don't lose hope I'm praying for you!

You have a beautiful family

You have a beautiful family we will be praying for you guys.

Welcome.

This story touched my heart. Welcome with open arms and hugs! You're little boy is so precious! Terrible what you and Blake have had to go through in his short time here. I'm so happy he is doing better and thing's are looking brighter!

You are indeed a brave woman, and a fantastic Mom!!! Don't lose hope, God is with you.

I don't even know what to say. This is an amazing story and I agree with June, you're an extremely brave woman! Our prayers are with you.

Wow, what a touching story. I'm sure that Freya is giving him endless happiness, and I am praying for a miracle as well.

Welcome! what a road you have all traveled so far, may it continue to be a long but meaningful journey from here on out, filled with lots of happy memories.

Thank you for sharing your story with us! Blake looks like a fighter and is certainly blessed to have such a loving and caring mother! When all of our human strength is gone, we can only turn to God and beg for a miracle. I'm praying for that miracle for Blake!

THanks everyone for the words of support. I appreciate it.

Blake goes in for an MRI scan in 2 weeks to finds out if his recent treatment has worked - If it has he is back in remission *Woohoo* and it's back to MRIs every few months to watch keep track of the tumors. Blake calls MRIs his 'No eating appointments' as he has to fast, and whats more he LOVES hospitals and all medical staff.

Thanks for the prayers, I'm not massively religious myself, but I think every little bit helps.

I am in tears. I am so sorry for the circumstances you and your family are under. As others have said, miracles do happen. You and your family will be in our prayers.

Welcome! You are a brave family and we're happy Freya can bring you all some joy. Best of luck from all of us - we'll be thinking of you!

We will be keeping you in our thoughts and prayers. Glad a puppy can bring such happiness to ya'lls lives

Sorry, I dont meant to upset anyone.

For us now we just feel like it is what it is, we cant change it, we just have to accept it and enjoy every waking moment with our child. It's been nearly 2 and a half years since it all began so we've had alot of time to digest things.

Again, sorry if I have upset anyone. I just wanted to share with you all wo I am and the face it that I'm no longer a regular person, I'm a mother whose child has cancer - It changes a person.