BIKERS PLEASE HELP MY FRIEND. Scares days goes by without a new post on facebook or twitter about a cancer patient that faces death that is fighting for his/her life, that needs prayer and help… Every time I see a post like this, my heart aches because once again I see my grandfather in front of me. I was very young but I remember that we lived in Somerset West in the Western Cape and my grandparents lived in Kempton Park. I remember the phone calls, I remember my mom talking to him and encouraging him, I remember the family prayers… As a child you remember only some things, but I remember the conversations I heard between my parents; mom telling dad that my grandfather is tired, that she needs to visit him. I remember the time she was gone, I remember every evening when she phoned and talked to my dad and I remember when she phoned and said it is done… Now all the children are married and my husband and I live in Walvis Bay in Namibia and because we are a close-knit family, we keep contact and are grateful for modern technology that allows us to keep contact. Then you get the whatsapp message, that pulls the rug from under you and you re-live your grandfather’s leukaemia and the agony that went with that. It is a message from your cousin – the one you grew up with, the one who is your third sister, the one you got in trouble with as a child and she tells you that her first born son has cancer. Her big, gentle giant, Adriaan, (he is 1.97 m) is dying and if they don’t act fast, he has 6 months to live… And so begins our journey as a family. Even though there are thousands of kilometres in-between us, there is nothing that separates us. We “talk” every day. We experience the pain and even thought my husband and I do not have our own children yet, we have godsons and at times I could hardly breathe without pain when I thought about them and that I would give anything so that they would never suffer. Every day I get an update on Adriaan and immediately send it through the friends who support us emotionally with prayers and encouragement. Adriaan was diagnosed with T-cell. Lymphoblastic lymphoma/leukaemia (or TALL as it known as). Prognoses was not good – 20 % chance of surviving. A growth was found in his chest between his lungs. It measured 14 x 6 x 3 cm and was heading for his windpipe – it could cause him to suffocate if action was not taken. Immediate action was necessary after which a bone marrow transplant would be needed. He was admitted to Pretoria East Hospital and a J-line was planted into his chest where the cancer was found. Before they could start the very aggressive chemo, blood clots were found in his one arm. This needed to be sorted ASAP. During treatment for the blood clots, he was found to have a massive amount of fluids surrounding his heart. With closes inspection fluids were also discovered in his lungs. Drainage pipes were necessary to get rid of the fluids and no chemo could be given before the fluids were not drained. He was placed in isolation (beyond I.C.U.) and was only allowed 4 visitors per day. Although almost 2 litres of fluids were drained from his right lung, this was not the end of the problems. An incision of 5 cm was made to his heart to drain fluids from there and he was in terrible pain. His breathing became more difficult and he had to be kept on strong pain meds to help him cope. As if this was not enough, his kidneys started acting up. Should they start chemo now, he could end up on a dialyses machine – it was of the utmost importance that chemo started as soon as medically possible. We got the news on the 19th of May 2014. On 30 May 2014 his first chemo session started. Doctors informed them that it had to be super aggressive chemo for a week on end. He was given anti-nausea meds before the sessions started and by the grace of God, he never became sick. After 5 days, the draining pipe from his lung could be removed and the tumour started to shrink – he could breathe easier. Morphine was reduced to 4ml per hour and the amount of fluids drained from the heart reduced to 100 ml per day. Unfortunately things took a turn for the worst when signs of cancer was found in his bone marrow. He was now diagnosed as a stage 4. He was terribly ill and chemo had to stop. Adriaan was now treated with blood plates to stabilize his white blood cells. He was on oxygen and things seemed to become worse. All measures were taken – He started receiving chemo in his bone marrow for his brain – this is one emotionally and physically draining journey for this family. As you can imagine, this becomes personal – very personal. This young man, at the age of 21, almost lost his life because of cancer. An unplanned, unwanted illness that does not look at gender or age or race. He has been in Hospital 49 days so far. At this stage, Adriaan is back in hospital and the last tests revealed that he might be in remission but celebrations are too early. More painful bone marrow tests, lumber punctures and blood tests wait to confirm. Even though he might be in remission, he will still need a bone marrow transplant as his immune system is incredibly low at this stage. This strapping young man has lost almost 30 kg since his diagnosis. He is brave, he is strong and he is scared. He went over on his own medical aid when he turned 21 in February and now the reality of financial responsibility is staring him in the face. We, as a family, are eternally grateful for medical help and the fact that Adriaan is still alive. Even though my husband and I are not close by to physically be there for them, we have decided to ask for donations. Right now they need to focus on getting Adriaan out of the woods and then for him to recover completely. My cousin has 2 other boys (both of them tested negatively for a bone marrow match for their big brother) and as a family, I do not think they deserve the stress of worrying how to make these payments. At one stage, his weekly medicine (out of hospital) was reaching R5000. At the moment it is far beyond that – apart from medicine, there is the hospital part that the medical aid does not cover. All bills are available for viewing to interested parties. For the moment, we are facing amounts of +/- R64 310.02 per month and more bills are coming in. I have shared with my cousin, Hester, what I wanted to do and asked her to open an account especially for this. Unfortunately, the cost involved in naming an account for cancer or whatever cause is quite high, so we have to settle for a separate account in Adriaan’s name. We have, however, agreed upon one thing: whatever is left over in the account after all their medical expenses have been covered, will be transferred to the next patient that they meet with TALL cancer. A BOOYSEN SMART ACCOUNT FIRST NATIONAL BANK ACCOUNT NO 62485121819 BRANCH 250655 If you find it in your heart to contribute, I thank you. If you can share this with someone who might be able to contribute, I thank you for that as well. Agreed: this is one person, but we can make the world a friendlier and better place by helping one person at a time. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. Blessings Petro Walters Walvis Bay Namibia +26481 854 5016
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 12:15:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015