Bowing to some pretty strong peer pressure from certain people (“Do it now or ill do it myself for you”), I've put up a new Go Fund Me page for Finlay. Finlay wants to go back to Florida now that he is 'better'.  Throughout most of his relapse treatment the last two years, Fin has always held on to the joy he found in the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin ride at Disney.  He has asked me repetitively if, when he was better, could we take him back.  Finlay only had a 50:50 chance of surviving the second round of cancer treatment, so i made him a promise.  If he could promise me he wouldn’t leave me, I would promise to take him back.  A promise I fully intended to keep.  However due to the complicated case that is our Finlay and the fact that he has to declare Cancer, Cancer Relapse, a Bone Marrow Transplant, Stage 5 Kidney failure and 8 hours of home dialysis every day, his travel insurance is sooooooo expensive.  I know a number of you have been telling me you would like to help and contribute so we can take Finlay back, so this is the place where you can.  THANK YOU!!!  It will mean the absolute world to Finlay to go back and help wipe out some pretty horrid memories from the past few years.

For those that don't know the full story and I know there are a few of you. Here are Finlay’s last few years, condensed!

*Jan 2013 - Diagnosed with ALL Cancer in Germany. Treatment was pretty intense and so where the Germans!!!!! Finlay did 16 months of intensive chemo before moving onto daily chemo tablets that he should have been on for 2 years.  He had his first heart operation here to insert a Port (tube into his heat to access blood and give chemo etc.).  It was a pretty horrendous time with a great number of complications and infections.

*May 2014 - We took him to Florida to celebrate the end of Chemo (we weren’t counting the chemo tablets as proper chemo as they aren’t as aggressive and don’t have the same side effects etc.) 

*June 2014 - We haven't even unpacked when a routine test came back showing Finlay had relapsed. We left Germany and headed back to the UK for a second opinion.  The JR in Oxford confirmed the Cancer cells where present and Finlay restarted even more Intensive chemo. His port was removed (second heart operation) and Hickman line inserted.  The Hickman line has tubes that come from his heart out of his body, whereas the port sat under his skin and had to be pierced to access.  

*July Aug 2014 - Finlay’s first line infection. This meant a pause in chemo and 6 weeks in hospital isolation and me living in a chair (no beds were provided for parents! Thanks Swindon! you can see the purple chair in the back of the picture). 

*September 2014 - Fin started Total Body Radiation.  I can’t even explain to you what that entails and what the aftermath was.  But it involved Finlay on a lot of Morphine and being fed via a tube.   



*October 2015 - Finlay had his Bone Marrow Transplant followed by 3 months in sterile isolation. 

*Jan - Feb 2015 - A couple of very scary months of fighting Graft vs. Host Disease.  Finlay’s body was trying to reject the transplant.  This meant a whole load of steroid treatments and some experimental drugs.   

*March 2015 - We were in a fairly good place and took the boys for a week in Weymouth.  While we were there we visited the Sealife centre.  A day later Finlay was really poorly and we had to rush him back home to hospital.  Finlay had contracted Salmonella.  Now for most of us with a full immune system going to see turtles isn’t a problem but we didn’t know they carried the Salmonella virus and all it took was the tinniest bit to make Finlay really sick.  Finlay fought Salmonella for months and months and apparently it can stay dormant in his body for years.   


*May 2015 - Finlay got another Line Infection, this time between the end of the tube and where it sits in the heart.  So he had an emergency 3rd heart operation to removed Hickman line and a few days later he had another operation to have a PICC line fitted into his arm as a replacement.  Unfortunately the doctor fitting the line thought better of it and placed the line in his foot. Finlay went mental and refused to walk, which wasn’t great considering he was only just getting back to walking.  So a few days later Finlay’s had another operation and they removed the PICC line.  After antibiotics and several tests they were happy Fins heart has ok and he underwent a 4th Heart operation and had a new Hickman line fitted.  






*June 2015 - Was another terrible month.  Finlay’s bowels and stomach failed, they were just not working.  Anything he ate came straight through him and out the other end.  He lost a silly amount of weight and feeding via a nose tube wasn’t helping, he just couldn’t retain any nutrients.  We were admitted and Finlay was nil by mouth for nearly 4 weeks.  They kept him going on something called TPN, which is fats, sugars, water etc. given via his heart tube.  


*July-Sept 2015 - We seemed to be out of the woods and everything was going really well, he even started school, until..... 

*October 2015 – When Finlay’s kidneys decided they had had enough drugs and completely gave up.  His Hickman line had to be removed (5th Heart operation) and a bigger Vas Catha was fitted so he could start Heamo Dialysis.   


*April 2016 - Heamo Dialysis wasn’t working very well for Finlay and he was having too many ups and downs.  So Perinatal Diastalsis (PD) was started.  This is dialysis through his tummy, so he now has a tube that come out of his belly.  




*June 2016 - PD going really well.  Finally was walking better and even trying to run, eating better and looking really well.  So his 6th heart operation happened and the Vas Cath was removed.  This meant he could go swimming for the first time in 3 years! 


And that’s the short version.  He’s been through so many blood transfusions; lumbar punches; bone marrow tests; x-rays; scans; tests tests and more test; he’s stayed in hospital more than home some years and yet has stayed so positive through the vast majority of it.  He’s my hero and when people ask me how he has coped through it all, i tell them about this moment.  Finlay had to have total body radiation.  That involved having a full face mask moulded to his head, which is then fixed to a table so he could not move.  Finlay was 4 at the time.  I honestly thought trying to explain to a 4 year old that you aren’t allowed to move for up to 10 mins at a time, in a room all on his own would be hard.  But Finlay just nodded and agreed that this is what he had to do to get his blood better.  The first time was really scary and i cried (a lot), but Finlay just said to me it was boring so he went to sleep! He slept through most of his sessions and kept incredible still.  The radiographer even said he was better behaved than most of the adults!! And that’s my boy, always finding something to be happy about; I will forever be a very proud mummy!

I have also added a photo of Finlay’s bravery beads.  These beads are a visual representation of every treatment he has had.  Each colour represents a different treatment.  If you want more information about beads of courage you can visit their website. 

http://www.beadsofcourage.org/pages/beadsofcourage.html