A Roller Coaster Ride

Today I sat in a consultation room at Starship Children’s Hospital, in Auckland, New Zealand. The reason we were there is because our youngest grandchild, Quinn, is presently on her second cycle of chemotherapy.

To learn more about Quinn’s journey  link to Quinn’s Quest. 

https://www.google.com.au/search q=quinn's+quest&oq=quinn's+quest&aqs=chrome.0.57j0l3.15161j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

This journey began at the beginning of 2013, and at times this has been a horror journey, interspersed occasionally with good times.

As a privileged member of the family, but also an observer it has been heartwrenching to follow this family’s journey.

Quinn had two brain tumours of an aggressive and rare cancer called PNET. After the removal of the brain tumours, a lengthy regime of radiation and chemotherapy began. The family is based in Palmerston North, where they have family and friends.  They have their own home and worked hard to provide for their family and buy their own home. Unfortunately both parents had to leave their jobs, and in one case take a year’s leave without pay.

Quinn has an elder sibling but he has joined his parents in Auckland. The family living in an apartment in Ronald McDonald House.

The period of radiation treatment ended in April, but chemotherapy will go through a number of cycles, along with the infusion of stem cells .until the last quarter of this year.

But it is all extremely hard emotionally and physically for Quinn’s parents. They have been fortunate to have support from family and friends but there is the daily visits to oncology for IV antibiotics, blood tests and for Quinn, the extreme tiredness and general feeling of unwellness because of nausea, the nasal-gastro feeding, the low white cell counts, and the list goes on. Her parents have to spend the hours most days watching their 7-year-old daughter being so ill.

The family has stayed strong as best they can, looking forward to when all this will be over. But it is a rollercoaster ride for all.

But today we observed Quinn’s infusions, her IV antibiotic infusion and the results of today’s blood tests. Her platelets are downs, as is her white blood cells. So at the end of the day Quinn is admitted back into the ward.

We will see what happens in the next day or so.