Tuesday 23 September 2014

Sarah & Caroline's Story

Warning - this is something that's probably going to be hard to read for anyone, particularly if affected by cancer or loss.

So even though Caroline and Thomas's stories are scaringly similar, I just wanted to tell you a little about Caroline and her time in hospital! 

*** 

In August of 2004, Caroline was just 9 years (I was 12) old when she was hit in the arm with a skateboard while sitting on a skateboard ramp and within just hours her arm had ballooned and she'd been taken into Nottingham A&E with what our parents though was just a broken bone. 

To this day, I don't know what was said when my parents were taken out of the room and into a meeting room.. All I knew was that some fancy Doctor had been called to come in at midnight after x-rays had been taken.It turned out it wasn't a break, it was osteosarcoma - bone cancer. It didn't take long, literally days, for Caroline to start treatment and for the Chemo to be given.

By December, they were positive the chemo was working and took her to Birmingham Hospital to have the bit of bone removed and any remaining tumour. After having an x-ray on arrival, Caroline was told that as she had a cold they couldn't operate and that she could come back in a few weeks. Just a couple of weeks later on boxing day 2004, we were in Professor Walker's office being told that she would have to have her arm amputated as the tumour hadn't shrunk enough to remove it. 

Just days later, the day before New Years eve, Caroine went into Surgery back at Birmingham and had her arm amputated... within less than 24 hours she was home celebrating in the New Year! 

Over the next 18 months, we repeatedly had the good news that the cancer had gone followed a few weeks/months later than it was back in various parts of her body - legs, spine or lungs. By August 2006, after being rocked by the loss of Thomas, our parents were told that options and time were running out. We were whisked away by another fantastic Charity, When You Wish Upon a Star, a Nottingham based charity that grants wishes for sick children, to Florida for 3 weeks where we visited all the theme and Disney parks and Caroline's wish of Swimming with Dolphins came true! 


We arrived home to more Chemo and now Radio therapy to try and prolong time as much as possible. This carried on right until April of 2007. Late April 2007.. what I'd imagine to be one of the worst days of my Mum and Dad's life. Being called into Professor Walker's office for a meeting was never going to bring good news. 4 weeks left. 

I had no idea what was going on, neither did Caroline. All we knew was that we'd been given 4 weeks off of School and treatment. It's amazing how much you can cram into 4 weeks when you know that's all you have.. trips to London, seeing as much family as possible, meeting Mcfly and Sugababes on the same night (more on that later!) and a big family holiday. 



What was the fourth week was spent in Wales with my Mum's family and spent on the beach playing. Thursday night came around and Caroline suddenly became tired and weak and was rushed to the nearest hospital. After a night there, she was taken to Nottingham in an ambulance.. blue lights flashing, sirens blaring out - how my Dad never got a speeding ticket trying to keep up from Wales to Nottingham behind an ambulance I'll never know. 

By 2.30am Saturday night/Sunday morning, she'd fallen asleep listening to Mcfly with me, Mum and Dad sat on her bed with her. 

It's crazy how quickly things can change.. one minute she's playing on the beach then getting ready and putting her make up on going out for a meal and then less than 72 hours later, she'd fallen asleep after her lung had collapsed. 

**** 

It's stories like mine and Luke's which need to be shared for it to hit home with other people just how hard it is being part of a family affected by Bone Cancer. A lot of people have no idea what it's like and therefore don't understand why me and Luke are so passionate about raising awareness and sharing our stories to get people involved to help raise awareness and funds. The more funds that are raised through people raising awareness, the less people will have to go through what we've been through - but we can't do it on our own, we need everyone!









Thursday 18 September 2014

#TBT: The day they made front page news

I'll never forget going into Tesco and buying literally every copy of the Nottingham Evening Post they had for all our family and friends. We knew that Caroline and Thomas had been interviewed, along with their Junior School Head Teacher, the wonderful Mr Mike Barker, but we had no idea that when we picked up the paper, they'd hit the headlines and make front page news after being nominated for a joint Reach Out Bravery Award!


The article was a 2 page article where our old Head Teacher explained why he had nominated them for a Reach Out Bravery award! This was also one of the first times that Nottingham had heard about the Caroline and Thomas and why being in the same school while having the same type of Bone Cancer was a rarity. 



The article also features comments from Caroline's consultant, Professor David Walker who looked after Caroline during her time in Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham! 



We'd be happy to send anyone the .jpeg to have a read as it's not the best quality on here. Just drop us an email - lukeandsarahforbcrt@gmail.com or Tweet/Facebook either of us :)


Happy Throw Back Thursday! 

Sarah x

@LC_SJ3000BCRT
@MsSarahJack
@_LukeClifford
www.facebook.com/lukeandsarahs3000milechallenge

Saturday 13 September 2014

Secret Mission!

Hi everyone - we're Luke and Sarah! 

So a few months ago we decided that we want to do something to raise both awareness and vital funds for Bone Cancer Research Trust in memory of Luke's Brother, Thomas, and Sarah's Sister, Caroline who both died of Osteosarcoma - a very rare form of bone cancer.

It's no secret that in the last year or so we've been in close contact with the Bone Cancer Research Trust  and today, we travelled to Leeds to finally meet the team behind the charity at the BCRT Head Office. It's been a brilliant day and even educational.

But the main reason we went was to announce our final plans on how we're going to challenge ourselves while teaching others about bone cancer and why it's so important that we raise funds for new drug trials. 

With your help, we are going to cover 3000, yes, THREE THOUSAND, miles over the space of a year starting on January 1st 2015. Whether this be running, swimming, cycing, dog walking, canooing or whoever else knows what, we are going to be covering this huge milage for TEAM BONES! 

We would love to get you all involved; friends, family and colleagues to help us reach our target and raise our aim of £1 per mile. Over the next year we'll be organising group get togethers where you can get your bike out or your running shoes on to join us! 

In 2015 we will be blogging and vlogging (video blogging for anyone who doesn't know) our way through the year and set up several ways for you to keep up to date with our progress and for any plans where you can join us. Even if you're doing your own walk and fancy donating your miles, just drop us an email with a mini blog feature! 

We still have 3 months before the start date but for now though, be sure to follow us on the below pages and wish us luck! 

http://lukeandsarahs3000milechallenge.blogspot.com
www.youtube.com/sarahandlukeforbcrt
www.twitter.com/LC_SJ3000BCRT
lukeandsarahforbcrt@gmail.com