ALL SMILES: Helen Tiffin and son Callum are all smiles after the caring and supportive treatment they received when Callum was in the Children’s Cancer Centre of the Royal Children’s Hospital.
“..it had started to eat away at some of the bones in his skull.”
Written by JACQUIE SCHWIND.
THE Tiffin family of Markwood have firsthand experience of the caring and supportive environment which exists for kids and parents at the Children’s Cancer Centre at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Helen and Jason Tiffin’s three and a half year old son, Callum, has just finished treatment at the centre and the family, along with youngest child, 15 month old Sam, will be attending this Sunday’s Apex Park event, marking the arrival of ‘On the Beat - Against Cancer’ in Wangaratta.
‘On the Beat - Against Cancer’ has teams of Victoria Police members, including Wangaratta’s Erin Christie, giving their legs a work-out in a seven day walk and ride from Wodonga to Melbourne to raise money for My Room, the registered charity which supports the Children’s Cancer Centre and has raised more than $11 million in funds since its 1993 establishment.
People are invited to visit Apex Park on Sunday, between midday and 3pm, to meet On the Beat teams and local police, enjoy fun and games provided by Silvers Circus, listen to music from One Eyed Jacks and see the police display truck.
Callum was diagnosed at two and a half years old with histiocytosis.
"It’s similar to cancer, it behaves like cancer and it has to be treated like cancer," Helen said.
"It’s a rare blood disease where the white blood cells accumulate in abnormal amounts.
"It affects one in 200,000 people."
Helen said the disease was life-threatening if not treated.
"We were lucky it got picked up quite early," she said.
"It can eat away at the bones and it had started to eat away at some of the bones in his skull.
"It was very frightening."
Callum had rashes on his body, problems with his gastro intestinal tract and lesions on his skull.
He was sent to the Royal Children’s Hospital for chemotherapy and has only just finished treatment.
"Initially it was every week for seven weeks and then every three weeks for the remainder of the 52 weeks," Helen said.
"He was actually fantastic - a brave little boy."
While Callum’s chemotherapy was less intense than many other children endure, Helen said it had been an initially very upsetting time as the family coped with the shock of Callum’s diagnosis and the added responsibility of a newborn baby.
As "a country person in a big city hospital" Helen said Children’s Cancer Centre staff members from doctors down to cooks and cleaners had made the family feel as comfortable and supported as possible.
"The cancer centre is such a bright ward. All the kids are going through so much but they all seem so good, happy and relaxed to be there," she said.
"Callum has loved going to Melbourne and seeing all his nurse and doctor friends."
Although the disease is something which could re-emerge, Helen described the prognosis for Callum, who is now receiving CT scans every three months, as "fantastic".
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