Help for Rhean's family
Another Update:
Finally after a long wait we have Rhean’s treatment plan, however, it’s not the plan / results we hoped for. The consultants have said Rhean has a high grade aggressive form of cancer, which is also rare, so consequently he isn’t going to benefit from Proton Therapy, instead he will now have 7-8months worth of treatment at Addenbrookes. We can’t be too sure what life will be like for Rhean once he finishes his treatment, he is likely to have some form of brain damage from the Radiotherapy being so intense along with stunted growth and various other life changing factors. Tomorrow he will be going under General Anaesthetic to have a Hickman line set up ready for his first Chemotherapy. While under they will carry out a series of tests and removes tissue to store in hope to eliminate more heart ache in his future and give him a chance to start a family of his own one day. I am hoping we can give this page a final push to generate more donations, It would be amazing to be able to help make Rhean as comfortable as possible at home, and keep his little face smiling and feeling positive for longer ❤️
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UPDATE: Thank you again for all your donations and support. I just wanted to send a quick update on where we currently are. Rhean's operation on New Years Eve went as well as we could have hoped for, an MRI confirmed they was able to remove all of the remaining tumour/cyst. He seems to be stronger this time round and has bounced back really quickly. He was discharged from hospital on the 4th January and is now settling back in at home. We are waiting to hear from the hospital about the next steps, but hope to hear in the next couple of weeks. We really are so thankful for all of your support!
** Thank you all so much for your kind donations, we are all completely blown away by your generosity, I have increased the target in hope to get a little extra to maybe tick something off Rhean's wish-list once his treatments completed, please keep sharing - we really appreciate all your help. Thank you.**
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Thank you for taking the time to click this link, it is with great sadness that I am creating this page in hope to help my family. It's not something I ever imagined I would be writing and sharing with friends, family and colleagues ☹
On the 9th December my brother and Nicola were told that Rhean their 8 year old son had a brain tumour. Rhean had spent many months suffering with migraines, sickness, loss of sight and seemed to be getting nowhere in terms of diagnosis, until an eye test at the hospital discovered swelling behind the eye which then led to further scans and the eventual discovery of this tumour.
As you can imagine their whole world at that moment was turned completely upside down, they were told a plan of action and Rhean underwent major brain surgery on the 12th December. The surgery lasted around 5-6 hours and the outcome seemed positive. The tumour/cysts covered an area of 5cm by 7cm but the consultants / surgeons were sure that this was mainly a cyst, so things were starting to look up. The tumour/cysts were sent to the lab and Rhean started his recovery at Addenbrookes. He did his daily physio, started to get his appetite back, stopped his morphine and in just under a week he was ready to go home and join his sisters and the rest of his family for Christmas.
Rhean has been recovering incredibly well at home but we all knew we still had to wait for the biopsy results to come back before we could fully relax… and sadly when the doctors met with Shaun and Nicola on the 23rd December to discuss the results, the news was not the news we all hoped and prayed for. The tumour which the consultant’s thought was a “good” tumour - in fact was a “bad” tumour. The cystic walls contained many small tumours which means it’s a spreading tumour; although it doesn’t seem to have spread any further than the tumour which was nearly all removed during his first surgery. Rhean is now having to have a second brain surgery on the 31st December to remove parts of the cyst they had left there due to them feeling it was too dangerous to remove before, but now knowing how critical it is, they have no choice but to perform this dangerous surgery.
He will then need to have a minimum of 6 weeks of radiotherapy and proton therapy which will be in either Germany or Manchester. Shaun has had to give up work in order to look after Millie who is 2 and Nylah who is only 7weeks old while Nicola goes with Rhean during this horrendous time.
I am hoping we can all raise some money for them as a family to cover bills and hospital stays to help them out during this difficult time so they can focus entirely on getting Rhean better. Anything you can spare is gratefully received and we will keep you all updated on his progress.
Thank you.
