By Sophie | Jaxson's mum
One evening I noticed a lump on my son Jaxson’s neck. After some blood tests in hospital I was taken to a room, away from Jaxson, to talk. The nurse was carrying a box of tissues and I knew it had to be something bad.
Completely alone, in that sterile environment, I found out the devastating news that my wonderful little boy had leukaemia at just three years old.
That first night I sat in the hospital room alone whilst Jaxson slept. I just cried and cried. I couldn’t sleep as I didn’t want to take my eyes off him.
Over the next months, Jaxson endured many treatments, in and out of hospital, in-patient appointments and monthly lumbar punctures.
Those are the times when you need somebody there but with Covid added to the mix, we felt really alone. We didn’t see friends or family as we were just exhausted and our daughter Bella, who was only 14 months at the time, had to live with my mum.
Our lives were a mess. We were just surviving. Just trying to cope.
In January 2023 Family Support Worker Wendy first visited us in our home. Both children immediately loved her. They loved they had someone else to play with, someone else to give them attention and that was wonderful.
Having Wendy around gave me time out, a chance to do the jobs I needed to do, prepare lunchboxes for next day, take the dog for a needed long walk, and just to get a bit of ‘me time’.
I had closed myself off but with Wendy I had someone to open up to. She has worked with other families in similar situations and understands how our lives are turned upside down. Talking to Wendy helps me cope better.
We are eternally grateful for having such amazing support from Family Support Worker Wendy.
We are blessed that, in February this year, Jaxson rang the bell to mark the end of his cancer treatment.
There are so many families like mine, that may be feeling so helplessly alone and desperate, who need this specialist support from Rainbow Trust Family Support Workers. It is only thanks to your donations that my family received this support that we so desperately needed. Thank you.
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