Nathan is now 7 years old. He is sweet, clever, loves Lego, playing sports and just being around his friends. July ’24, we received a call to collect Nathan from the local hurling camp, as he was feeling sick to his stomach. We went from GP to hospital and back again, all symptoms indicating a viral bug. Things seem to worsen quickly, Nathan became breathless and in pain so we returned to our local hospital in Limerick where they did further tests and an X- ray. Nothing could ever prepare us for what was about to unfold for our beautiful boy. The X-ray revealed a large mass covering 90% of Nathans left lung and it had collapse entirely. It was our worst nightmare come true!
The following morning, we were in an ambulance to Crumlin. After the biopsy confirmation, the Oncology team confirmed that it was a cancer called’ Ewing Sarcoma’ starting from his rib. They gave us our treatment plan of 14 rounds of chemo, alternating (5/2 day hospital stays), every 2 weeks. Once the tumour shrunk he had to undergo surgery to remove the root. Chemo was extremely tough and Nathan responded well, however the surgery threw another curve ball at us. The cancer had left plaques around the plural wall containing a small percentage of live cells. Our new plan was to go to Manchester for Proton bean treatment at ‘ The Christie’ Hospital.
It all happened so fast…my head was in overdrive on the long drive home to Clare, when we got a call from John Glynn. I just remember him saying ‘ Just make sure your passports are sorted and we can help with everything else, you are not on your own‘ . This took all the logistic stress off my shoulders and we could just concentrate on getting Nathan through the next few weeks.
The Gavin Glynn Foundation were such a tremendous support for us during this time, from booking flights and accommodation to financial support and advice. We cannot thank John, Jayne and the team enough!
This past year hasn’t been easy. We have walked through storms that no child should ever have to face. Although we have not reached the finish line just yet, Nathan has shown more courage than I have ever seen and has reminded me and everyone around him of what true strength looks like. He is and always will be……… Our Superhero!
