Lachlan was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma on the 9th of June 2019 at just 20 months of age. The Tumour was the size of a small football in his stomach and the cancer was also found in his bone marrow so we began treatment straight away with 5 rounds of chemo at Monash Children’s Hospital which resulted in hearing loss and other side effects. He was a little trooper and generally handled it really well despite the accumulating physical toll.
In October Lachlan underwent surgery to remove the tumour which took the doctors 11 hours to remove, we also lost his left kidney during that surgery. It beat him up pretty badly but he recovered incredibly quickly and we were out of hospital just a week later and he was quick to find his feet and get back to playing at home.
Once he had recovered fully after a few week we then were admitted to the Royal Children’s Hospital where Lachlan had a stem cell transplant and had to be in full isolation in his room for 30 days due to the risks associated with having no immune system, the good news is that we made it out just in time for Christmas at home and together as a family.
The next stage in Lachlan’s treatment was radiation therapy at Peter Mac. He had to be put under a general anaesthetic every day for 12 days for him to receive the radiation, this was tough on his little body and will cause life long side effects.
The next stage of Lachlan’s treatment plan involved 5 rounds of immunotherapy also administered at the Royal Children’s Hospital. The treatment, which targets the cancer at a cellular level, it was extremely painful so Lachlan was on morphine and other painkillers each round to help. Again, Lachlan showed us great resilience and handled it really well.
Lachlan’s family received the great news that he is in remission in September 2020 and would love to raise awareness of Neuroblastoma and money for a cure so no other family has to go through this. You Are My Sunshine is a charity that is run by volunteers so all money goes towards research and development to find a cure.
