Off-topic - Apologies for recent absence

PatrickS2222 · Mar 4, 2017

Mod: Feel free to move this thread if needed - I read usually only MF threads, so I started it here.
G'Day All, not sure if anyone has noticed, but I've not visited for a few weeks. Our start to the New Year has been among the worst I can remember. I do realise many families have had to come to terms with ever more tragic events, and my heart goes out to them. It seems that it takes a scare to give one an insight into what that may involve.
Our spare time has been largely spoken for by about my worst nightmare. Our youngest daughter - almost 17 years old - was diagnosed in the first week of 2017 with a brain tumor around a hen's egg in size, right beside the motor-skills area of her brain. She is an accomplished artistic (roller) skater, attended her first international event last September and was aiming for the German Cup in May.
Our lovely daughter was in the children's hospital for several days undergoing tests and scans after which the decision was made that it was best removed. She was home for a few days, then re-admitted for a five-hour operation, done by a very experienced and brilliant Swiss surgeon here in Brisbane. All went very well, she recovered very quickly and came home 7 days later. Ten days later she returned to school and two weeks later she was skating again - according to my wife "better than ever before".
She is still extremely fit and healthy, but we are worried it may grow back. We were assured she would require around 6-7 weeks of radio- and chemo-therapy, so I have been very busy improving our house and ensuring her comfort is the best we can provide for this upcoming bumpy ride. This is due to start this Wednesday. She wished for a quiet party with her skate mates and school friends, and also invited all the generous people who rallied together to help me, raise funds for things such as an air conditioner for her room (it is still very hot weather here), discounted building supplies for us to build a lovely outdoor area for her to sit in the fresh air and read or whatever, and all sorts of other help and support. There are a lot of very generous and unselfish people in this world, and I reckon I know a high percentage of them - several guys working 3-4 days in the summer sun helping me.
Tonight we had the event, which she really enjoyed spending some time having fun with her friends. They also had another friend's 18th birthday to attend which cut things short somewhat, but it was great to see that lovely smile so frequently.
The specialists involved all seem confident her recovery will be 100% but are worried there may still be cancerous cells there which could easily multiply, and want to treat the area so as to take no chances. They were amazed her recovery was so fast - due they said to her being young, and as the surgeon said "so incredibly fit".
All we can do now I guess is to keep trusting their knowledge and experience, and hope and pray this is now history. They receive around 70-80 children with brain tumors each year - from all over our state, plus nearer edges of adjoining states, and nearby islands. A family doctor would see 1 or 2 in an entire career.
I have to say this could certainly be a lot worse, but I didn't know I could survive with so little sleep either. I shall be sure to keep you all posted as things progress.

Looking4new · Mar 4, 2017

Prayers for your daughter.

YES please do keep us up to date.

AchingBack · Mar 4, 2017

I wish great success for your daughter. I've been a member of the roller skating world for decades, and I realize what a difficult, challenging sport it is. May God watch over your family.

3930dave · Mar 4, 2017

Best Wishes Patrick, for your daughter's continued and complete recovery.

(If a mod does move this thread, it may end up in Friends and Family. No Harm/Foul.)

And, Catch Some Sleep yourself !

Best Regards, Dave.

BKBoiss · Mar 4, 2017

Thank God everything has turned out so good. Prayers that she never needs to deal with it ever again.

Johnny g · Mar 4, 2017

I can only guess what you and your family must have gone through, so glad to hear everything went well and I will be hoping and praying that she continues to fully recover and everything gets back to normal.
Johnny G.

Big Barn · Mar 4, 2017

My thoughts also, will be with you and your family, Patrick.

Terry

Bird · Mar 4, 2017

That has to be a terrible experience for the whole family. I certainly hope and pray the recovery is complete and permanent.

EddieWalker · Mar 4, 2017

Sorry to hear what you have been going through, but happy that she is recovering so quickly and doing well.

hawkeye08 · Mar 4, 2017

Sending prayers your way, for healing but also for peace for your family as you go through this. Thanks for sharing

Thomas · Mar 4, 2017

Special thoughts/prayers for your daughter and family.

dieselcrawler · Mar 4, 2017

Best of luck to your daughter, and whole family. I have no idea how you must feel, a simple pinched finger or bump on the head sends me into panic with my own kids... I admire your strength, holding it together. Warm wishes and prayers sent your way.

GAFarmer2 · Mar 4, 2017

Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

tcreeley · Mar 4, 2017

Good luck to your daughter and family. Wishing you the best!

Wagtail · Mar 4, 2017

All the best to you and yours, Mate. Especially the (not so) littlie.

:thumbsup:

PatrickS2222 · Mar 5, 2017

Many many thanks and loader-buckets of gratitude for everyone's support, encouragement and kind remarks. It is indeed wonderful to know there are so many tremendous people in this world who I've not yet met, but through various means have been helped with expertise or just worked, chainsawed prices or donated equipment/materials, you name it - people I do or don't know are stepping up each day. This makes me all the more convinced Jennifer is even more special to more people than we ever imagined.

This pic is about six years old:

Last year's Aussie Nationals medals:

Last year, in Aussie National Sports uniform:

Again, our family greatly appreciate everyone's caring and supportive words.

I'm sure if this can be beaten, Jennifer will beat it.

shaeff · Mar 6, 2017

Hi Patrick, my wife and I are very sorry to hear about your daughter and we'll keep her in our thoughts daily. Hope you all stay happy and healthy!

PJSprog · Mar 6, 2017

Thanks for sharing your story, and best wished for your daughter.

PatrickS2222 · Mar 18, 2017

Apologies for my infrequent updates.
Thank you all for your best wishes and support. They most certainly mean a lot to me.
Jennifer had her first chemo- and radio-therapy treatment Wednesday March 8th, then the same again each weekday. So far there have been no side-effects - she's even been skating on some evenings after her radiology visit - but this is only the beginning of a six-week course of treatment. There will also need to be periodic visits for maintenance treatment as well.
The medical team collectively studied the images of her latest MRI, taken the previous Friday, with quite encouraging conclusions. The small percentage of remaining tumour appears to be low-grade and currently not likely to be aggressive, which suggests the treatment should be very effective.
For a short time they felt she required a second operation, but it is very close to the area that controls her motor-skills, which makes it extremely risky, and could result in her losing control of an arm or leg, or being even more severely disabled. This is exactly why the surgeon didn't remove it the first time - he said then that it was just too unsafe. That was prior to the last high-definition MRI, which showed a lot of what they needed to know.
It's been a mental roller-coaster ride for nine weeks now, but things look much better now than they have been. Fingers crossed this treatment works and the tumour doesn't reappear.