Shave for Jaggar
Donation protected
Friday 27th September is the day I am no longer required to brush my hair... So being as September is international non-hodgkins lymphoma awareness month I’ll be shaving my Maine of which I have been grown for the past 15 years or so. Please come and join me at The Common in Gnarabup, Margaret River All in the name of Jaggar.
Read my mates story of how his families lives have turned upside down..... and please donate to this beautiful family.
On the 6th of May 20 days before Jaggars 4th birthday we were having a family picnic at the beach, as the kids were playing on the playground Jess and I noticed that Jaggar had quite a large lump on his neck just under his jawline (a swollen lymph node) We checked to see if it was sensitive, sore or painful and if there was any visible bite marks on it, the doctor looked him over and said that jaggy had swollen red tonsils which could mean he had a bacterial infection that could cause lymph nodes to swell so he put him on antibiotics for 5 days but told us to do a follow up appointment with Jaggys doctor for a second opinion. So we went and got a second opinion and they then referred us to a paediatric specialist for a third opinion, he gave Jaggy a blood test and ultrasound of the lump and told us not to worry and that lots of kids get enlarged lymph nodes, when we went back for the results a few days later, his bloods were normal except for his white blood cell count being a little above average but that could still just be a flu or bacterial infection and the ultrasound came back, it was 3cms in diameter and wasn’t solid and it had movement so all signs were positive, he also did his weight and booked us to do bloods and another ultrasound in 2-3 weeks time to check progress. When the appointment rolled around, His bloods hadn’t improved so we were told to take him to hospital for observation and more bloods, while in hospital they checked him over and he had lost about 1.5kgs in about 2 weeks which was a bad sign so we stayed overnight for more observations then the next day there just so happened to be a specialist paediatric surgeon visiting from Townsville, so he checked it out and he said that we’ll get a biopsy (cut it out) to do further testing to find out what it was or what was causing it. So we went down to Townsville about a week later to have Jaggys biopsy, after the operation the surgeon came an told us that it was very friable meaning that it was soft, weak and falling apart which he said that could be a good sign that it could still be a bacterial infection that his body is just having a hard time breaking down but not to get to excited until the tests are done, The following week on Friday the 5th July at around 1030am we got called into talk about the results from the biopsy. At midday we were informed that our little man was diagnosed with lymphoma (which came with a sort of out of body experience, were my brain felt hot , my face was floating in front of my burning brain and my body was like static on a tv) And that we’d be headed down to Brisbane to start 6+ months of chemotherapy. That weekend we had to pack up our lives and fly to Brisbane on Tuesday the 9th, the next morning the 10th we went to the Queensland Children’s Hospital for Jaggy to have his first PET scan, where they injected him with radioactive medicine making him radioactive for up to 12hrs they then put him to sleep to scan his whole body to see how far or how much of his body is affected and to get his staging, then with those results we found out that we caught it very early because other then in his lymph nodes in his neck and a few small ones on his chest there was only a 8mm lesion on his right lung making him high risk. Then just for good measure two days later they did a lumber puncture with a triple intrathecal which is where they take out a sample of spinal fluid to test if there is any in his spine or around his brain then put small amount of chemo to replace the sample amount (2mls)just incase and a bone marrow sample to see if it was in his bone marrow, those 2 came back as negative. So after that week of tests our doctor gave us all the information about his condition, Jaggy has a Non-Hodgkin lymphoma call Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL) which is a rare form (Because of his age). It has now been 8 weeks and he has had 2 rounds of chemo currently doing his 3rd now, he has a semi permanent central line in his chest, a shiny bald head that he actually likes and is still a happy, loud (very loud) 4 year old that you would not know is going through chemo. We have had our second PET SCAN as of the 11th and the results of that has shown that the lesions on his lung is completely gone which means it’s all going well and he’s responding to treatment perfectly although It has been the hardest thing in all our lives to date, other then the sleep deprivation, cabin fever and trying to explain to Jaggy what’s going on, we are getting through this and lastly a big thank you to all our friends and family for all the love and support you’ve all given us.
Read my mates story of how his families lives have turned upside down..... and please donate to this beautiful family.
On the 6th of May 20 days before Jaggars 4th birthday we were having a family picnic at the beach, as the kids were playing on the playground Jess and I noticed that Jaggar had quite a large lump on his neck just under his jawline (a swollen lymph node) We checked to see if it was sensitive, sore or painful and if there was any visible bite marks on it, the doctor looked him over and said that jaggy had swollen red tonsils which could mean he had a bacterial infection that could cause lymph nodes to swell so he put him on antibiotics for 5 days but told us to do a follow up appointment with Jaggys doctor for a second opinion. So we went and got a second opinion and they then referred us to a paediatric specialist for a third opinion, he gave Jaggy a blood test and ultrasound of the lump and told us not to worry and that lots of kids get enlarged lymph nodes, when we went back for the results a few days later, his bloods were normal except for his white blood cell count being a little above average but that could still just be a flu or bacterial infection and the ultrasound came back, it was 3cms in diameter and wasn’t solid and it had movement so all signs were positive, he also did his weight and booked us to do bloods and another ultrasound in 2-3 weeks time to check progress. When the appointment rolled around, His bloods hadn’t improved so we were told to take him to hospital for observation and more bloods, while in hospital they checked him over and he had lost about 1.5kgs in about 2 weeks which was a bad sign so we stayed overnight for more observations then the next day there just so happened to be a specialist paediatric surgeon visiting from Townsville, so he checked it out and he said that we’ll get a biopsy (cut it out) to do further testing to find out what it was or what was causing it. So we went down to Townsville about a week later to have Jaggys biopsy, after the operation the surgeon came an told us that it was very friable meaning that it was soft, weak and falling apart which he said that could be a good sign that it could still be a bacterial infection that his body is just having a hard time breaking down but not to get to excited until the tests are done, The following week on Friday the 5th July at around 1030am we got called into talk about the results from the biopsy. At midday we were informed that our little man was diagnosed with lymphoma (which came with a sort of out of body experience, were my brain felt hot , my face was floating in front of my burning brain and my body was like static on a tv) And that we’d be headed down to Brisbane to start 6+ months of chemotherapy. That weekend we had to pack up our lives and fly to Brisbane on Tuesday the 9th, the next morning the 10th we went to the Queensland Children’s Hospital for Jaggy to have his first PET scan, where they injected him with radioactive medicine making him radioactive for up to 12hrs they then put him to sleep to scan his whole body to see how far or how much of his body is affected and to get his staging, then with those results we found out that we caught it very early because other then in his lymph nodes in his neck and a few small ones on his chest there was only a 8mm lesion on his right lung making him high risk. Then just for good measure two days later they did a lumber puncture with a triple intrathecal which is where they take out a sample of spinal fluid to test if there is any in his spine or around his brain then put small amount of chemo to replace the sample amount (2mls)just incase and a bone marrow sample to see if it was in his bone marrow, those 2 came back as negative. So after that week of tests our doctor gave us all the information about his condition, Jaggy has a Non-Hodgkin lymphoma call Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL) which is a rare form (Because of his age). It has now been 8 weeks and he has had 2 rounds of chemo currently doing his 3rd now, he has a semi permanent central line in his chest, a shiny bald head that he actually likes and is still a happy, loud (very loud) 4 year old that you would not know is going through chemo. We have had our second PET SCAN as of the 11th and the results of that has shown that the lesions on his lung is completely gone which means it’s all going well and he’s responding to treatment perfectly although It has been the hardest thing in all our lives to date, other then the sleep deprivation, cabin fever and trying to explain to Jaggy what’s going on, we are getting through this and lastly a big thank you to all our friends and family for all the love and support you’ve all given us.
Organizer
Samson James Low
Organizer
Bramley WA
