Driving Awareness of Childhood Cancer
Mollys StoryMolly Rose
Mollys Story
In late October 2015, Molly Rose, who was then just 9 months young, a whole life of possibilities ahead, began to exhibit bruising and swelling around both her eyes, darkened shadows of what was about to come into her our lives and, dismantle in a slow drip, her life. After a couple of worried trips to local doctors we found ourselves in the community x-ray clinic, oblivious and stressed but unaware of what lay beneath those bruises. It was early November, tuesday, my only memory of that day lay between the sterile walls of that clinic and, of a dark malevolence hovering.
On Wednesday 11th, after a trip to James Hospital, we found ourselves in the place that would soon become our new home from home, Crumlins Children Hospital. I felt my world heave earlier that morning after speaking to a apologetic professor in James hospital who held on to a dark secret and then arranged for us to go to Crumlin with the parting words 'You are in for a tough time'. Our worlds collapsed that afternoon. New words flitted in and out of the tears - 'mycn amplified' , 'aspiration', MIBG scan' and the worst of all 'Nueroblastoma stage 4'. A cancer was eating away at Molly and devouring what should have been her future.
We went on to be part of a treatment trial. Scans showed that Molly had a tumour 'the size of an orange' above her adrenal gland and her bone marrow and bones were also invaded, most of her young fragile body under attack. Over the course of months Molly received many large doses of various Chemotherapy treatments. Multiple stays in hospitals, anti sickness pills, frequent growth hormone injections to repair marrow, unwanted needles and invasive nasal gastric tubes were the order of the day. And the hair, nothing prepares for that level of suffering, and nothing breaks you more when you see your beloveds hair shedded on a hospital white pillow.
Molly took the treatment like a princess warrior, she was a little hero to all who were touched by her story, stranger, friend and family alike. The support we received at that time helped us through, so many good people, so many well wishers, so many. By the time we got to June, 7 months later, Mollys tumour was sucessfully removed, scans showed no trace of the dark cancer, the lurking ghost seemed vanquished. We breathed a cautious sigh of hope as doctors declared her recovery 'miraculous' and began preparations for stem cell harvesting, we were swelling free and the bruises felt like just a bad memory.
The month of July was almost idyllic as cancer treatments go, we had no Chemo and Molly was looking healthy, She got to spend quality time with her family, and the hair, to see the hair coming back was the lift that was needed to get through the next steps.
The 'next steps' began in August. We would be transplanting Mollys earlier harvested stem cells back into her body. But before that we had to poison Molly with one more horrific dose of chemo to obliterate her marrow and reboot her system in the hope of preventing the return of the dark spectre. The chemo this time was horrendous, the nightmare slipped inception like to a deeper level. The stem cells were replanted and began doing their work but Molly was sick, very sick, and would remain so.
On thursday 25th August, Molly was rushed to PICU. She had developed sepsis after an Adenovirus infection on top of everything else, her body was shutting down. Molly, hooked up to a breathing machine, kidney machine and many other life extending devices was now in a fight for her unlived future. Our Molly rallied that weekend and by the start of the week blood infection markers were showing huge improvement. By the time we approached the end of the week we were prepping to remove the breathing assistance and to get out of ICU.
Molly suffered a stroke and brain hemorrhage that friday afternoon from which she would never recover. She was rushed to Temple street hospital for brain surgery but all hope was done. Molly gave up her fight on the 3rd September 2016 in her daddys arms with her Mummy and Granny, our princess lost the only fight worth having, the fight to live and love.
Molly loved and delighted in her sister Charlotte, 2 years her senior, but she also loved, strawberrys, monkeys, James Bays 'Hold Back the River', chocolate, buttery toast, tayto chipsticks, been held by Granny, The Lumineers 'Hey Ho', waiting for daddy in the evening and mammys cradle like arms.