Dear Editor:
On one fine March day the telephone rang in our house. The three words I heard have changed our lives forever: "Caleb has cancer."
How can that be? Our almost three-year-old grandson had been admitted to B.C. Children's Hospital to the oncology ward, and chemotherapy, lasting until the end of December, started.
Our vocabulary has been expanded to include the words "pleuropulmonary blastoma." It wouldn't be long before we learned more than we wanted to know about this rare form of cancer that manifested itself as an aggressive malignant tumour growing on his left lung.
Our family had entered the world of children's cancer.
We learned more new words: Doxorubison, Ifosfamide, all with a long list of unpleasant side effects. In June our vocabulary grew again with another word over three syllables: pneumonectomy. Four days before his third birthday, Caleb had his left lung removed, and Timmy the Tumour went to live in Minnesota and is doing research there.
Families facing the prospect of dealing with a child with cancer at first are overwhelmed by the complicated issues that one is not prepared for and the decisions about day-to-day life. The vocabulary, the culture of the hospital, and as treatment goes on, the uncertainty, the unknown must all be taken in
stride. We are so proud of our daughter and son-in-law for the strength and courage they have shown during the past year.
We are so thankful for the staff at Children's Hospital who do an incredible job of caring for sick children and their families.
During this time, we have learned how caring and giving people can be.
Caleb has been in the thoughts and prayers of so many people as he moves in and out of the hospital.
The love and support from friends and family and strangers has taken so many different shapes.
Recently, our gratitude and thanks go out to the employees of the Burnaby Village Museum who went the extra mile to put a million-dollar smile on a three-year-old face.
We thank you so much for caring. It is these acts of kindness that enable our family to move forward with grace and humility, for we know we are not alone.
Katherine Raadsheer, Burnaby
