ROTARY BLOOD DRIVE CHALLENGE

[Make sure to read Maddy's story below the article]

The community challenge is on for Rotary Groups this August to compete for the highest percentage of blood donations on the Gold Coast. If you are a Rotarian you are eligible for this life saving challenge. You are also urged to encourage friends, family and work colleagues to give blood on behalf of your Rotary group and this will count towards your tally. Donate blood between 1st - 31st August and your donation will not only help save three lives, but will go towards your Rotary groups overall total.

The need for blood is constant and right now we are low on blood stock. There are more people who need blood for cancer treatments and other life threatening conditions, than there are blood donors. Winter is the most challenging time of year for the Australian Red Cross Blood Service as they see blood donation rates drop significantly due to many regular donors having colds and flu.

Each week almost 27,000 donations are needed for people battling cancer, heart, stomach and bowel disease, accident or trauma or to address complications in pregnancy and childbirth. (Please see the recipient story about Maddy's Journey written by her father, Andrew below).

There are three convenient locations on the Gold Coast to give blood including Southport Donor Centre, Robina Donor Centre and the donor mobile unit which services the greater part of the Gold Coast.

To find out where your closest blood donor centre is and to make an appointment please call 13 14 95 or visit www.donateblood.com.au

When donating please be sure to let reception staff at the Donor Centre / Donor Mobile Unit know which Rotary group you are donating for. The winning Rotary Group will be presented with a shield as this is an annual challenge.

Download Thinking of Giving Blood A4 Poster (pdf)

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MADDY'S JOURNEY BY ANDREW COOK



In early 2008 my 3 year old daughter Maddison was quite sick. We had numerous trips to the Doctors, did blood tests and x-rays and were told that Maddison had constipation. Her symptoms were getting progressively worse and at about 1am on Thursday July 23rd 2008 we took her to emergency at Robina Hospital. Constipation was again mentioned and we were told we could either go home or go to Gold Coast Hospital to help with pain management. We chose to get transferred to Gold Coast.

Maddison had a range of tests including x-rays and an ultrasound; she also had a Nasa gastric tube inserted so a medicine could be given to clear her bowels. At about lunchtime three Doctors entered the room. A statement was made that was to change our lives forever. That statement was "Maddison has a 12.5 cm lymphatic tumour in her belly and we need to send her to Brisbane".

I lay on Maddy's bed and hugged her and cried. Fran poked her head around the curtain an hour later and said “What’s Happening” saw me and realised something very bad and broke down herself. Maddison and Fran were taken to The Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane by ambulance, I followed by car. We were in emergency by 5pm. Doctors and Nurses were coming from everywhere. Maddison had more bloods tests, urine tests, blood pressures taken, pulse etc. It was overwhelming. Then another statement that shocked us. “Maddison will need to stay and have treatment in Brisbane for the next 12 months”.

Before lunch on that Friday we thought Maddison’s problems were over after having her bowels cleared and now we would somehow have to live in Brisbane. That same night we received what we thought was good news, the blood tests had indicated that the tumour may be breaking down, good I thought, until I was told that it would get flushed into her kidneys and cause more problems. We were taken to Banksia Ward, Fran slept on a pullout bed and I slept on the end of Maddy’s bed.

The next day she went into surgery and a biopsy of the tumour was taken, she also got her first central line. This is a thin tube inserted into a major artery which has two access points on the end. It was used to take blood tests and also give drugs, blood and platelets. The operation took just over three hours. When she came back to us it was heartbreaking, she had a 7cm cut on the right side of her belly and she also had a cut on her neck and the tube coming out of her chest.

We had a diagnosis: Neuroblastoma Stage 4. I figured that stage 4 was one below the worst stage 5. Not to be. Stage 4 meant that the cancer had spread and it was now also in her bone marrow and in the bones of both femurs, her pelvis and right arm. She started her first high dose chemo the next day. Chemo drugs suppress the body’s ability to produce Red blood cells, platelets and neutraphils. Neutraphils are essentially the body’s immune system and they fight infections.

Maddy had her first blood transfusion less than a week after starting chemo. She also started losing her hair almost straight away. We were told that without treatment she would have had a matter of weeks, as she was getting sicker. Maddisons protocol meant that she was to have high dose chemo every month, 6 rounds in total using a variety of 6 different drugs. After each chemo treatment her Hemogloblum or Red blood would drop below 80, when it did this she would get a 4 hour blood transfusion. When her platelets dropped below 20 she would get platelets.

Another three chemo treatments followed and then we had our first real life threatening treatment - Maddison was to have the tumour removed. The chemo treatments had shrunk it so it was now time to operate. The doctor explained that the tumour was like spaghetti and had wrapped itself around her right kidney and the tentacles had grown up towards her heart along the aorta. I wheeled her into surgery with the Doctors and said that I loved her as she was put to sleep.

Fran and I then had an agonizing wait of 7 and ½ hours later and then the doctor came in and we saw the smile on his face – it melted our fears. Although he informed us that there were problems and Maddison’s right Kidney and Adrenal Gland had to be removed. He also said that she had lost almost her entire body’s blood three times and there was still some tumour towards the heart. She woke up in ICU and started getting cheeky, “I’m outer here”.

She was there for a night and then was transferred to Surf Ward where the surgical patients go. 14 days later she was out again. After she recovered another high dose chemo followed and this was number 6. By this time she had had numerous blood transfusions, 3 major surgeries and several smaller ones and she had also had a few platelet transfusions.

After all these tests, she had been randomly selected to do 2 bone marrow transplants. The current best treatment for Neuroblastoma stage 4 is 1 but we have been on a trial protocol from day one with 595 kids worldwide. This is because the success rate for NeuroBlastoma stage 4 is only 30%.

Maddy clung on. Her liver problem was causing her to chew through platelets. She was having blood tests every 6 hours. She ended up having platelet transfusions up to twice a day. Over a three week period she had platelets at least once a day. She was also bleeding upwards of 600mls of blood from her bottom a day. Maddy was having blood transfusions quite frequently also.

Maddison is a fighter. After 22 days on a ventilator she had it removed and changed to a face mask to help with oxygen. After 28 days in ICU she was released back to the cancer ward. 62 days after starting her Bone Marrow Transplant she was released from hospital. She was now in a wheelchair and it would be several months before she was able to walk unassisted.

After her immune system was back to normal she started her radiotherapy treatment. After this we did a full reassessment to see if she was able to start the next round of treatment. During month 2 of this treatment Maddy had problems. Her heart beat hit 233 beats a minute and stayed above 220 for several hours, her temperature also hit a new record of 41.7. After that her blood pressure dropped out. The treatment was stopped only 1 and a half days into the 4 day infusion. A cardiologist was bought in as the heart was shown to be enlarged and it also had fluid around it. The determination was heart failure. She slowly recovered and was released from hospital a week later.

Maddison’s treatment finished in late January of this year, almost 19 months after starting. Then on February the 16th we were given the news that Maddison was in remission. This was quite shocking news as everything that could go wrong did. A lot of her treatment was compromised due to complications. Due to damage caused by the chemo drugs she is now profoundly deaf and will have hearing aids for life. She also has Osteoporosis and has had fractures in her legs. She is still having treatment each month to try and thicken her bones.

She has had a total of 12 surgeries. The longest was 8 hours, the shortest 1 hour. We have records of 22 blood transfusions and 55 platelet transfusions although this doesn’t take into account the blood used during surgery.

Without the gift of blood Maddison wouldn’t have made it past August 2008.

Andrew started donating blood just before Maddison was diagnosed. Never realising that his own daughter would end up needing blood, plasma and platelets. You never know when someone in your family or even yourself might need the gift of life.