Hi everyone and welcome back to Jacks update.
Well it’s been a month since we last updated you all with what is going on in Jack’s life.
Since coming home from hospital Jack has been doing loads and has been coming on so well.
For the first week he was a bit wobbly on his feet and needed to be supervised at all times in case he fell or stumbled.
The second weekend he was home it was Fathers Day and his dad took him down to East Wittering for the day to meet up with his half brother Rick on a camp site with an outdoor swimming pool to spend the day. The week previous to this Jack found it hard to communicate with other kids due to being a bit embarrassed of his walking and arm movements. Once we got down to
Around 12pm after plenty of nagging from him, we all went to the pool where he couldn’t wait to get in. Jack was in the pool from 12pm till 5pm and had to be asked to get out so they could close. All the time we were in there I saw a completely different child to how he had been the previous 3 to 4 weeks and it was then I knew he was going to be ok. After dragging him out of the pool Rick’s mother in-law and father in-law did a roast dinner for us all and chicken nuggets chips and beans for all the kids and Jack scoffed every little bit.
Whilst we were down there the in-laws Carole and Steve offered us a week or weekend down there in their spare chalet anytime we wanted and Jack jumped on that straight away. He insisted we went the following weekend which we did.
The following weekend we went down on the Friday afternoon and arrived at about 3pm. The first thing we did after unloading the car was to get straight in the pool till 5pm. Ricky came down in the evening with his 2 boys Harvey, big Jack and Anna his wife. By this time it was getting late and all the kids were exhausted so they all crashed in our chalet in front of a film. The following day Jack was once again in the pool by 11am. His Aunty Karen and Uncle Dave drove down from
It was really hot that day and even though we put factor 30 sun block on Jack all that day he got a lovely tan. After dragging the kids out at 5pm we all sat down to a nice big picnic on the balcony of the chalet that we were staying in. Well after Jacks aunty and uncle had left about 7pm Ricky went back to his chalet with Harvey and big Jack. Our Jack crashed and that was him for the night. The following day was much of the same with all the kids and ourselves in the pool by mid day and then Steve and Carole laid on a big BBQ for us all and Jack ate like a horse.
We left the Witterings at around 8pm that evening and we thought Jack would have slept all the way home but instead didn’t stop talking about his weekend until we got him into bed 2 hours later. Knowing that he was going in for his Hickman Line to be inserted the following week, we went out and bought him a 10 foot round garden pool the following day. For those of you that don’t know what a Hickman Line is click this > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hickman_line Once the line is in, Jack will not be allowed to go swimming at all, so we thought we’d make the most of the time he had without one in.
Everyday Jack had one of his school friends round after school to enjoy his new pool and it was a pleasure to meet so many well mannered and well behaved kids.
Over the last few weeks we have been back and forth to hospitals for all sorts of treatment and observations on Jack. We have only informed Jack about what’s going on as and when we think he needs to know like the day before any treatment. He has been finding it hard to understand that he has to go through all this fuss when since the operation he feels better. We have sat him down and explained how serious this illness was and that if he doesn’t complete all the treatment there is a very high chance that this could come back and that maybe next time we may not be so lucky.
On the 7th of July Jack had his Hickman Line put in and within an hour of coming round from the anaesthetic he was hungry and we offered him a McDonalds but he declined that and asked for Pizza instead. We were advised that after the op he would be in a little pain for a few days and that we were to give him Calpol for as long as the pain lasts. We were released from hospital three and a half hours after his op and on the way home stopped at a chemist and bought a bulk load of Calpol in anticipation of the forth coming pain. He didn’t complain once about it and to this day hasn’t asked for any pain relief at all. When we put him to bed that night we explained that now that he has that in he cant any longer go in the pool until the line is out. We were astonished that he took it so well but we did promise him that a week after they take it back out that we will have a pool party and he can invite his whole school if he wishes. That gave him something to look forward to. The following morning we were up at 6am to empty the pool and get it put away before Jack woke up. After all that we have been through in the last month or so doing this broke our hearts knowing how much enjoyment he had in it the last week.
Jacks brother Ricky works at Chessington Zoo on the Dragons Fury ride. He told his team leaders all about Jack and invited us all down for the day for a VIP day out on them. Well I won’t say too much about it here as we are going to add another page dedicated to it so keep an eye out for the new tab on his home page titled Chessington
Today we were invited to Jacks school for an in house talent show with an extra performance from the head teacher Mrs Barlow and 4 other staff all dressed as ‘Girl’s Aloud’ and doing a dance routine. (Hilarious!!!!) This was all finished off with a dance from some of the children who attend the after school dance club which Jack used to attend before he became ill. The dance was dedicated to Jack and the song they were dancing to was Mamma Mia by Abba. It was a pleasure to hear the whole school singing along to it.
When we got the offer to go and see this, Jacks aunty Karen asked if she could come too and offered to bake a cake for the whole school but Jack had to choose what it was made from.
So at the end of the performances the cake was brought out for the whole school to see and eyeballs were rolling all over the floor.
This cake was made for everyone who had sent cards and wrote messages on his site wishing him well from the school.
As of the 20th July Jack starts his Radiotherapy. This is the first part of his treatment and consists of travelling to Oxford Churchill hospital every weekday for 6 weeks to undergo radiotherapy on his head and spine. Every Friday he will also have a dose of chemotherapy inserted into his Hickman Line. This procedure will make jack feel very tired along with a lot of other side effects short and long term. If you want more info you can mail me at allan_daly@hotmail.com and I will give you all the info via that.
We would both like to thank everyone for their messages left on this site and all the cards and gifts everyone has given to Jack. Please keep the messages coming as it really gives Jack and us the strength to keep our chins up through these difficult times.
That’s it for now and I hope we haven’t missed anything out. This has taken us about a week to do as we keep getting disturbed by Jack and the phone every time we sit down to write it, but as soon as there is more to tell you all, we will do so.
All our love Allan Helen & Bella (<The Dog)
PS For more info on Jacks Tumour Type click this link or copy and paste it into your internet browser. http://www.btbuddies.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=149:medulloblastoma&Itemid=91