INFO
Tom has suffered from cold like symptons for some time now, possibly as much as 6 months. It seemed that whenever there was a virus around, he would catch it, we presumed this was just bad luck.
Recently he had started to run temperatures more than a normal tempurature and then lost 4 of his first teeth, which was followed by bleeding, swollen gums, we presumed this was because he lost the teeth and after a visit to the doctors in the USA we were given antibiotics and told it was a sinus problem.
Just days before we left for the UK (We left May 25th for the U.K) we started to notice unexplained bruises on his legs, which had proceeded a couple of bumps. We booked him into the doctors for when we returned to the U.K
Literally the day we were leaving the bruising increased, quite noticeably. We arrived Saturday mornning in the UK. Whilst with friends here he was hit in the back by a friends daughter whilst fooling around and instantly produced a large bruise that you would not have expected.Being around the corner from the local hospital I decided it was time to take him to the emergency room.
After a long wait and the first doctor trying to send us back to our regular doctor we were admitted to the ward, it was quite late by this point, blood was taken and results were expected by 4a.m.
We both slept at the hospital, whilst Amy and her friend from the USA (Alison) stayed at our home with Amy's Grandma Jean, we did not get much sleep. The doctor did not appear until later in the morning, and confirmed our worst fears that he did indeed have Leukemia, we were then referred to the specialist childrens hospital.
Well, that's the quick version anyway!
Once we arrived here he was connected to an I.V and given a constant stream of liquid. A Hickman line was fitted (A tube which allows them to feed medication directly into the heart/bloodstream without the need to keep injecting), a bone marrow test and spinal tap was also done
The fluids in the spinal tap were tested and found to be negative, the hickman line was uncomfortable for some time and required quite a lot of pain killers, however after a few days and some physiotherapy it has eased up considerably and is not giving him much trouble.
He is receiving medication around the clock from the IV units, Chemotherapy, anti-sickness medication (a steriod), pain killers, and rehydration, plus earlier on blood transfusions (possibly more to come)
Currently it is a waiting game and we don't expect to see where this is taking us until around mid June. It looks like he will be in the hospital for 6-8 months, potentially we could return to the USA in just over 1 year, if all goes to plan, and if we don't settle in the UK!!!