Emmett’s story: “He was being sick 15 times an hour so we were thankful we were at the home”

“He was being sick 15 times an hour so we were so thankful we were at the home and could go in straight away.”

Emmett was having chemotherapy treatment at the age of 2. He had been diagnosed with germ cell cancer within four weeks of his Mum finding a lump.

When his Mum, Amy, took Emmett to the GP, she had some other news to share with the doctor. She was pregnant with her second child.

The excitement of falling pregnant again was taken over by fear and worry as her 2 year old son was passed from blood test to scan and finally surgery at Oxford St John Radcliffe Hospital.

“We thought we were going for a biopsy but they decided to remove the lump. They hoped the surgery had got it all but his blood tumour markers were going up again.

“Scans the second time showed it had spread significantly during the time since the first scans – it had spread to his lungs and lymph nodes.”

Emmett needed to have chemotherapy treatment. At just two years old, his body reacted to the treatment and he would often feel very sick afterwards. Every time he went to hospital in the day, he would be admitted that evening.

Amy and her partner Kevin lived 25 miles from the hospital. Driving Emmett to and from the hospital wasn’t an option, he was being sick 15 times an hour and being in the car made him worse.

Being able to stay at the nearby Young Lives vs Cancer Home from Home, CLIC Court, Amy and Kevin could get Emmett seen to within minutes.

“He was being too sick to walk from CLIC Court, we’d have to drive him across and just the 30 second journey of him driving across would make him sick.

“CLIC Court was amazing as we knew he would be back in that evening. He was being sick 15 times an hour so we were so thankful we were at the home and could go in straight away. It meant that Kevin could be nearby too.”

Throughout this tough time, Amy was juggling being there for her little boy and keeping herself well during pregnancy.

“When I would take Emmett for appointments I would have to take a sick bowl with me, and the stress of everything made it a bit worse.”

Having the new baby to look forward to gave them all something positive to focus on.

“Emmett would love talking to the bump and it was during one admission in hospital that Emmett and Kevin felt her kick for their first time.”

Just after Emmett finished his chemotherapy in February 2019, he was in hospital to have his Hickman line removed when unfortunately he spiked a temperature and had to be admitted once again.

Amy sat there next to her little boy with the familiar sounds of an oncology ward whirring away in the background when, all of a sudden, her waters broke.

“Ida had lots of complications at birth – she was resuscitated at birth. Eight days later the doctors came in and said she was well enough to go home.

“I called Kevin and within 15 minutes I had a call from Emmett’s oncologist to say scan came back clear, he’s in remission. It was the best 15 minutes of my life.”