{"id":65963,"date":"2021-10-25T14:57:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T03:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hudson.org.au?post_type=hdsn_news_post&p=65963"},"modified":"2024-09-11T17:41:45","modified_gmt":"2024-09-11T07:41:45","slug":"lachys-story-hope-against-stage-iv-neuroblastoma","status":"publish","type":"hdsn_news_post","link":"https:\/\/hudson.org.au\/news\/lachys-story-hope-against-stage-iv-neuroblastoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Lachy’s story: hope against Stage IV neuroblastoma"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lachlan was a happy baby with beautiful blond wavy hair. He slept and fed well. The perfect baby. At 18 months, Lachy developed fevers, vomiting and general tiredness. Doctors thought it was a daycare virus and he would get over it. But when he didn\u2019t, his parents, Carly and Ryan, took him to the emergency department and he didn\u2019t leave hospital for a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The start of a tough journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lachy had an 11 cm tumour in his abdomen. Within days he was diagnosed with Stage IV neuroblastoma, which had spread to his bone marrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDiagnosis hit us like a ton of bricks. Neuroblastoma can be fatal and has a history of coming back. Cancer is bad enough, but when you hear it\u2019s a nasty one you think the worst \u2013 that you are going to lose your child,\u201d explains Ryan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of that week, Lachy had started chemo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a huge adjustment. But you\u2019ve got to keep your kid happy, and you must move forward. You start the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A shocking diagnosis: Stage IV neuroblastoma<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lachy\u2019s treatment plan kicked off with five rounds of chemotherapy over five months. Sadly, he lost his beautiful wavy blond hair. Then it was time for surgery to remove the tumour.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Lachy
Lachy in hospital<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThe operation was a long 11 hours. They initially thought Lachy\u2019s kidney could be saved, but they had to take it out. That\u2019s rough,\u201d Carly says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One month in isolation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Next came a stem cell transplant using Lachy\u2019s cleaned cells to grow bone marrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe knew this was the scary treatment, when things could go bad, because it wiped Lachy\u2019s immune system. He was in hospital isolation for his month-long recovery. We were his only two visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe got Lachy home just in time for Christmas; the best gift ever,\u201d says Carly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dark time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the New Year, Lachy went into two weeks of daily radiation therapy, which included having daily general anesthetics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat knocked him around. He would wake up and throw up. It was a dark time \u2013 you do your best not to think about it,\u201d says Ryan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final treatment was five rounds of immunotherapy. While it was less invasive, Lachlan\u2019s tiny body had to endure serious analgesics including morphine to control the pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final step: immunotherapy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fourteen months after diagnosis, Lachy had ticked every box on his treatment plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of families don\u2019t get through that, so we knew that we were lucky,\u201d says Ryan.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Lachy
Lachy<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

One-year cancer-free<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now, Lachy is one-year cancer free \u2013 and, amazingly, has grown back a full head of curly blond hair \u2013 a daily reminder of what he\u2019s lost and gained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnother four years and he can be officially cancer free. It\u2019s still a while to go, but we are thankful that things are going great and we\u2019re on the path to a cure. One day at a time,\u201d says Ryan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile Lachy is a happy healthy kid, we get incredibly nervous when it comes to our review dates. If bad news is going to come, that\u2019s the time.\u201d says Carly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It has been an ordeal for the whole family, including Lachy\u2019s seven-year-old sister Isabelle. \u201cShe saw things that she shouldn\u2019t, but she\u2019s an amazing young girl. It was tough on her, but she knew Lachy was sick and our focus was on him,\u201d says Ryan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLachy was amazing. He would smile and get on with it. He is just such a trooper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll these kids with cancer, they have moments when they are really sick, but they are still kids. They have bright moments of happiness and that really makes you happy, it has a snowball effect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hope through medical research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u201cLachy still faces challenges, some hearing loss, the loss of a kidney and some long-term stuff associated with radiation and treatment, but he\u2019s here with us, he\u2019s happy and we\u2019re on the path to being cured.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Carly and Ryan are full of praise for the research that went into Lachy\u2019s treatment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt gives you hope, not just for your own child, but for others. It also shows in the results \u2013 when we were diagnosed it was 50\/50 \u2013 we knew medical research could make that better,\u201d Ryan says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together we can invest in high-quality childhood cancer<\/a> medical research that really matters for kids like Lachy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At 18 months, Lachy developed fevers, vomiting and general tiredness. Doctors thought it was a daycare virus and he would get over it.\u00a0Lachy had an 11 cm tumour in his abdomen and was diagnosed with Stage IV neuroblastoma, which had spread to his bone marrow.…  Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":41564,"menu_order":0,"template":"","issue":[134],"tag":[],"story-type":[88],"treatment-type":[94],"class_list":["post-65963","hdsn_news_post","type-hdsn_news_post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","issue-summer-2021","story-type-real-lives","treatment-type-immunotherapies"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLachy's story: hope against Stage IV neuroblastoma<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hudson.org.au\/news\/lachys-story-hope-against-stage-iv-neuroblastoma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lachy's story: hope against Stage IV neuroblastoma\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At 18 months, Lachy developed fevers, vomiting and general tiredness. Doctors thought it was a daycare virus and he would get over it.\u00a0Lachy had an 11 cm tumour in his abdomen and was diagnosed with Stage IV neuroblastoma, which had spread to his bone marrow.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hudson.org.au\/news\/lachys-story-hope-against-stage-iv-neuroblastoma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hudson Institute of Medical Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-11T07:41:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hudson.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Hudson-Homepage-Isabella-and-Lachy-scaled-e1649771066329.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" 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