Finley - You've got this!

Finley celebrated his third Christmas full of energy, being his typical cheeky self just as any two years old would. As the New Year hit, Fin became very lethargic and unusual bruising began to appear, raising concerns from Dad Scott and Mum Becky. 

Within a matter of days, Finley was taken into Colchester hospital and then quickly admitted to Addenbrooks, where he was diagnosed with T-Cell Leukemia. This happened just days following the bruising appearing.

 Fin started his first dose of chemotherapy treatment within one day of his diagnosis, and a Hickman line was inserted there and then. The Hickman line is a central venous catheter which has been inserted into a vein in his neck and tunnelled under the skin and then back out of his chest. This is used to administer chemo and other medicines, as well as withdrawing blood for testing. Finley will have his Hickman line in for a minimum of three years.

 Since his diagnosis, Finley has had to endure many side effects from the endless rounds of treatments he has received. After a series of regular headaches, Finley was given a CT scan, which showed an extensive venous sinus thrombosis. This is a blood clot at the front part of his head. Thankfully he is responding well to the twice-daily injections and for now, the clot is stabilised.

 Whilst receiving treatment for his blood clot, Fin also spiked a temperature caused by an infection in his Hickman line, which resulted in him having a septic shower. This led to him being rushed into intensive care. He had an emergency removal of his Hickman line, and after two weeks of recovering, a new Hickman line was put in.

However more recently, Finley has finally received some good news that shows the chemo is working as it should do, and he is currently in remission. He still has a long journey ahead - with 3+ years of regular chemo treatment required to keep it at bay.

 
As we sit here and write this together, Becky is looking back over photos from the early days of this crazy journey and reflecting on what they've all been through. He’s not the swollen-eyed, puffy-faced little man he was back in February - today he sits in the back of the car for yet another 2 hour journey to the hospital, rocking his Paw Patrol sunglasses, a sun hat and absolutely the biggest cheesiest grin going.


 Despite every up and down over the last 6 months, Finley has always, always, had a smile on his face and taken everything in his stride. He lights up when he sees his best friends, he's always happy to see his family, always up for cuddles with Mummy and Daddy, but most of all loves spending time with his older brother Ollie! As time has gone on, three-year-olds Finley's independence has grown from strength to strength. His new motto in life is 'I'VE GOT THIS' (sometimes it can be...'No, Daddy, I've not got this'.) .. but his positivity and outlook on life is truly inspirational.

 Finleys treatment will continue for a minimum of three years and as time has progressed, there are things cropping up that are needed to support and help Fin lead as normal a life as possible.

 This GoFund me page will continue to run to help support all sorts of different things that Finley is already needing and will need in the future to make his life as comfortable as possible.

Any funds raised will be put into an account that has been set up by Becky and Scott specifically to purchase anything Finley will need. We all THANK YOU so much for the love and support that the Rogers are getting right now!

UPDATE

Unfortunately on Tuesday 30th August they found that he has relapsed. The leukaemia has come back quite aggressively and they don’t think chemo alone will now cure Finley. A bone marrow transplant is the next step. Finley is now back in Addenbrookes where he is having intense chemo to help him get back into remission. We remain really hopefully that this will happen as he managed to get into remission back in April. Once he is in remission he will then be transferred to Bristol for a minimum of four months to undergo conditioning (where they basically get rid of his bone marrow) and this will then lead up to him having the bone marrow transplant. Ollie has already been tested for a match (25% chance) and Finleys bloods have already been sent off to the international database to see if there is a match too. The hospital are quite confident there will be a match so We are keeping everything crossed. It will be a few weeks until we find out. We have already had some positives ….. it hasn’t spread anywhere else and he has responded well to the chemo so far. He continues to smile, make us laugh and be his cheeky mischievous self. We couldn’t be prouder of him.

UPDATE

Last week they found that Finley’s leukaemia has already started coming back. This means that it has been resistant to both blocks of relapse chemo and unfortunately there isn’t any more they can now do. We are just completely heartbroken We have decided to now come home but not before taking him to Duxford where he got to see all the planes and tanks which he loved We want to just make the most of every single day with him and make him as comfortable as we can. Addenbrookes have been incredible and we were so lucky to have some absolutely amazing doctors, nurses and play team specialists. They soon found out Finley’s favourite time of year is Halloween and when we went out of the ward they decorated his room for him and even dressed up as witches and ghosts so he could do a bit of trick or treating. ❤️❤️❤️