Spike was born a normal healthy baby in 1975, but over his first years, he lost all muscle tone and suffered numerous seizures throughout the day and night. After numerous hospital admissions and tests, no diagnosis could be made and it was thought that he would not survive past his 2nd birthday!
Determined not to give up on him, he slowly began to regain his strength, although his seizures were very difficult to control. He endured extensive physio/hydro therapies, speech therapy and by the age of 11 was able to walk once again. Although his development was considerably slower than most
children, by the age of 16 he was fairly independent with help from his siblings and family, attending the local college and various work placements. His epilepsy over this period of time was quite difficult to control, but with the help of his VNS (Vagus Nerve Stimulator) and various drug therapies his seizures were limited to early morning/during his sleep period - two seizures each night. Despite this he has achieve most things - riding a bike, horse riding, skiing and swimming.
From 2010 his health began to slowly deteriorate, and finally in November 2013 he was diagnosed with Stage 3 Unresectable Malignant Melanoma - at that time we were advised his survival was possibly only 4 - 6 months.
Surprisingly to date (May 2015) he is still alive and remarkably well, he still has the Melanoma present in his left thigh but it hasn't spread to any major organs as yet. Spike's next scans are mid June 2015, so until then we are enjoying life!
Just a little foot note - Spike is quite happy for me to share his life with you all!
Spike enjoying a pint!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are always welcome, I will acknowledge as soon as I am able.
Thank you and hope you will pop by again very soon. Gilly