Keller's story

Getting Back to Normal Life

“The week before we knew Keller was seriously ill he started feeling sick and sleepy,” explains his mum. "He developed bruises and a sore back, and from then on things just got worse. When they diagnosed leukaemia I thought my legs would give way. I couldn’t stop crying. Keller asked me what was wrong, he couldn’t understand. He was taken straightaway for emergency chemotherapy. It didn’t work so they upped the chemo to Regimen C, which is the highest dosage you can receive.

“He started to lose his hair and became very ill. It was terrible to see him like this, but we knew we had to go through it to come out the other end. Things went well and by the end of 2006 Keller was back at school. 

“In March the following year we got a call from the hospital. The doctors told us Keller had relapsed. Straight away we drove to Keller’s school to pick him and take him to the hospital. He was playing football at the time and he looked so happy playing with his friends – completely unaware of what had happened. He was in hospital again for six weeks and returned home in October. He did really well until December, then his temperature went up and he went back into hospital.

“An infection had affected his lungs so he needed to wear an oxygen mask. His condition deteriorated quickly. He was moved to a children’s hospital and placed on a life support machine. By Christmas Eve he had opened his eyes but he wasn’t moving. They put him into a ‘bubble’ and he was connected to a machine to keep his lungs going. The doctors also tried him with a ‘hyak jacket’, which is like a turtle’s shell you strap onto your body and it pumps the lungs whilst you breathe through an oxygen mask. Finally both his lungs collapsed and we were told, “there’s nothing more we can do” and “it’s up to him to fight it now”.

“During all this time we hadn’t had a chance to let any of our family and friends know what had happened so no one had been to visit. We let everyone know and he suddenly had a stream of visitors. This made a massive difference, you could see his face light up each time someone came in. He started to perk up. They gradually weaned him off the breathing support and he was given nasal prongs to feed oxygen into his body. It was wonderful to see him start making lists and goals of what he wanted to do when he left hospital — all the doctors were amazed!"

“On the 8th February Keller came home which was wonderful. He started to have some of his checks done from home with Claire, our CLIC Sargent Community Nurse. We’ve known Claire since Keller was first diagnosed and she’s been with us all the way. Now she’s one of the family. When Keller came out of hospital he wouldn’t talk to anyone, he was terrified by all the medical staff he’d seen. Slowly he’s developed a really close bond with Claire, now he loves her to bits and trusts her.

“It’s much better to get care at home and everyone can see what’s going on. Keller’s illness has become part of our everyday lives. Keller’s friends can see he’s not being hurt, and the cancer thing becomes a bit less scary. Now, after a few months back home, he’s part of the family again and we can get back to doing the day-to-day things normal families do.”