Memories of Max - A Father's Story

Chapter 2 - The Unit

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We would then see them a number of weeks later and the friendship would resume. They always assumed that we had gone home and that it was co-incidence that both our families were in the Unit again, and were surprised when we told them that we'd never left.

Sporadically we moved into and out of the isolation rooms and wards, and I think that over both of Max’s treatments we spent time in each and every one of them.

Over time, as I watched the world of the Unit I felt that there was a clear division between the first time families and those who had experienced a relapse which is when their child's cancer returns.

I created my own personal classification for childhood cancer. Each class differentiates itself from the previous one because it is extremely difficult to truly communicate the reality of your current situation to anyone on a lower level.

Class One is diagnosis and treatment of the first cancer. This is the worst-thing-that-has-ever-happened-to-you. You can usually tell the ‘First Timers’. During their first days many parents wander around like comatose zombies especially if the diagnosis has come like some cruel thunderbolt out of the blue.

These parents had lived their lives with their own hopes and dreams. They dreamt of another child, a job, or a better job, and of recovering from life's aberrations and all that life throws at you as it runs its course. Suddenly their world fell apart on being given the news of their child’s cancer.

As a ‘First Timers’ I found our first days at the Unit difficult. I used to resent the laughter. I could not understand how parents could laugh and joke while their child lay critically ill in bed. How could they behave so normally? It upset me but I had not been there long and was soon to understand.

A parent can make a huge contribution towards the treatment of their child while in the Unit. On a day to day basis Max had a lot of sickness as a reaction to the drugs. During the worst times he would puke several times a day. It was messy but you quickly got used to the vomiting, cleaning and the replacement of the bedclothes.

We also measured Max's fluid intake and the volume of urine he passed. This was done to ensure that his fluid balance was maintained. The chemotherapy often acted as a diuretic and it was vital that the fluid was replaced or else complications would arise from dehydration. Fluid monitoring could be a difficult task if Max did not feel like drinking or ended up puking after drinking any fluid.

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