Lachlan's journey

Lachlan’s fight began on his 11th birthday. Our energetic, sports mad vibrant boy had been experiencing pain in his knee for many weeks before he collapsed in pain after a 200m sprint at school on Friday 9th June. He felt better after a rest and applying some ice however after a fun filled birthday party Lachlan could not walk at all on Sunday 11th June. An x-ray at our local hospital revealed a 6x6x4cm tumour in his proximal tibia. We were sent straight to the Lady Cilento children’s hospital in Brisbane for further tests and a biopsy later confirmed a diagnosis of Ewing’s Sarcoma. Lachlan had a host of tests and scans done before starting his very aggressive chemotherapy protocol on 26th June 2017. Thankfully Lachlan’s tumour was localised at diagnosis which left him with a 70% chance of survival over 5 years. Lachlan endured twelve gruelling weeks of chemotherapy between June and September before having limb salvage surgery on September 14th, 2017. Lachlan had 17cms of his tibia and his knee replaced with a titanium prosthetic and half of his calf muscle was flipped around to the front of his leg to cover his prosthetic and reduce the chance of his wound becoming necrotic. Although Lachlan’s tumour was removed with clear margins, unfortunately it had not shrunk at all and tests showed that the tumour was less than 30% dead. This means that Lachlan’s risk of relapse is considerably high. Three days after surgery Lachlan began experiencing chest pain and difficulty breathing. A CT scan revealed that Lachlan had developed a pulmonary embolism with Lung infarction from surgery. This means that a section of Lachlan’s lung tissue has died off due to a lack of oxygen supply caused by a blot clot in his lung. The infarction is permanent however thankfully Lachlan still has enough healthy lung tissue to compensate at this stage. Lachlan needs have two painful injections of blood thinning medication into his belly every day. Due to the risk of his platelet levels dropping too low Lachlan also has to have his blood tested every two days and has had multiple blood and platelet transfusions. Lachlan has been wheelchair bound since June and just when he was starting to regain the strength and starting to walk on crutches his right heel fractured, from a small amount of weight bearing to transfer into his wheelchair., from his bones becoming brittle from the chemo. Lachlan now has been diagnosed with osteoporosis from his treatment and his recovery has taken a huge back step. Lachlan works hard every day with physio therapy to rebuild his strength and we hope he will be walking unaided in about 18 months’ time. Lachlan will never again be able to play his favourite sports, NRL, AFL and tennis as his new knee does not move he right way to allow this. Lachlan has begun his consolidation chemotherapy regime which will continue weekly until March 2018. In total Lachlan will have Nineteen cycles of chemotherapy spanning over nine months. Lachlan’s Chemo has several side effects both short term and long term. He lost all his hair within the first two weeks, he has very little appetite and has lost over 5% of his body weight. More serious long-term side effects can include infertility, kidney problems, weakening of the heart muscles and even a secondary leukemia. Most kids on Chemotherapy have the pleasure of visiting the children’s hospitals Starlight room to help them through the rough months, Unfortunately Lachlan has been isolated since his first chemo cycle and has no contact with other children in the hospital. Lachlan has been so brave, but the months of isolation and chemotherapy are beginning to take their toll. His family are in extreme financial hardship. Mum had to resign from her job as a mental health support worker to become his full-time carer and his step father is currently unable to provide for them due to a very painful and debilitating medical condition. The overdue bills are piling up coupled with the added costs of transport, parking, medication, and day to day expenses of being in hospital regularly, they are struggling to make ends meet. Christmas does not feel possible at this point. If you can help this family make Lachlan’s journey easier in any way, please dig deep. Every dollar counts.