[Big Jim]

Hi,
My 3 year old son William Lyne was first diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia Type M7 in Feb 2011 (aged 2 at that time). He presented with a lot of pain early on and needed a constant morphine background to help through the days. “AML” is the Adult form of the disease (as opposed to the commonest form of “ALL” in children which thanks to research has a significantly better outlook).

He was treated as an inpatient at the Royal Marsden in Sutton, England until July 2011 when we were advised his chance of relapse was only 30%.

We were always advised that a relapse within a year would not be good as it would be hard to get William back into remission again, so were always on edge during this period.

Unfortunately William relapsed over Christmas (Christmas day was the first major and clear sign of a relapse). He has since had 3 courses of strong Chemotherapy again as an inpatient at the Royal Marsden in Sutton and is due a to start a bone marrow transplant (the only known cure following a relapse) in May again as an inpatient at the Marsden. His current chances of survival/ mortality are 50:50. The bone marrow transplant will take an average of 6 weeks as an inpatient, then many months of worry about virus/ infections which can (and have recently been seen to be) be fatal. Though clearly having a transplant in the summer is advantageous with respect to catching a Virus.

Though I wish I could cure this horrible disease, I know this is beyond me, though I can support the people who can make a difference with financial support.

With this my brother David and I + my friend/ colleague Paul Richardson have decided to cycle around the Island of Zealand in Denmark (around 260 miles) in September this year with the hope to raise money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. We plan to do the ride over 5 days.


Our charity link is:

http://www.justgiving.com/williamlyne

Though you can equally donate by mobile phone text (SMS) i.e. Lyne55 £1/ £2/ £5/ £10 TO 70070 to donate. e.g. texting LYNE55 £2 - donates two pounds.



I hope you will support me in my quest to prevent other children getting this horrendous disease.



Regards.,

James

[XCDriver]

Originally Posted by Big Jim

Hi,
My 3 year old son William Lyne was first diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia Type M7 in Feb 2011 (aged 2 at that time). He presented with a lot of pain early on and needed a constant morphine background to help through the days. “AML” is the Adult form of the disease (as opposed to the commonest form of “ALL” in children which thanks to research has a significantly better outlook).

He was treated as an inpatient at the Royal Marsden in Sutton, England until July 2011 when we were advised his chance of relapse was only 30%.

We were always advised that a relapse within a year would not be good as it would be hard to get William back into remission again, so were always on edge during this period.

Unfortunately William relapsed over Christmas (Christmas day was the first major and clear sign of a relapse). He has since had 3 courses of strong Chemotherapy again as an inpatient at the Royal Marsden in Sutton and is due a to start a bone marrow transplant (the only known cure following a relapse) in May again as an inpatient at the Marsden. His current chances of survival/ mortality are 50:50. The bone marrow transplant will take an average of 6 weeks as an inpatient, then many months of worry about virus/ infections which can (and have recently been seen to be) be fatal. Though clearly having a transplant in the summer is advantageous with respect to catching a Virus.

Though I wish I could cure this horrible disease, I know this is beyond me, though I can support the people who can make a difference with financial support.

With this my brother David and I + my friend/ colleague Paul Richardson have decided to cycle around the Island of Zealand in Denmark (around 260 miles) in September this year with the hope to raise money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. We plan to do the ride over 5 days.


Our charity link is:

http://www.justgiving.com/williamlyne

Though you can equally donate by mobile phone text (SMS) i.e. Lyne55 £1/ £2/ £5/ £10 TO 70070 to donate. e.g. texting LYNE55 £2 - donates two pounds.



I hope you will support me in my quest to prevent other children getting this horrendous disease.



Regards.,

James

Good luck fella

[ralphchadkirk]

You have my strongest sympathies. I can't begin to imagine how awful it must be for you at the moment.

I will donate some money as soon as I'm able to do so.

Best of luck for you and your son.

[Big Jim]

Originally Posted by XCDriver

Good luck fella

Thanks. He's just started his Chemo today for his Bone Marrow TRansplant.

So it's fingers crossed for us at the moment.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Originally Posted by ralphchadkirk

You have my strongest sympathies. I can't begin to imagine how awful it must be for you at the moment.

I will donate some money as soon as I'm able to do so.

Best of luck for you and your son.

Thanks for the wishes. It's pretty grim, but at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel (so to speak on a railway forum). But with the Bone Marrow Transplant he has a chance.

The thing is when you sit next to the bed of a sick child, there's nothing you can do.

At least with this ride I can help try and fund the research which is doing so well at improving outlooks for children and adults with blood cancers.

thanks again

[jscho84233]

My heart goes out to you, your little lad and your family. I wish you all the best of luck with your challenge, and my thoughts will be with you all during William's transplant, and I will wish for a good result.

Donation made.

[Big Jim]

Originally Posted by jscho84233

My heart goes out to you, your little lad and your family. I wish you all the best of luck with your challenge, and my thoughts will be with you all during William's transplant, and I will wish for a good result.

Donation made.

They're certainly good at the Royal Marsden, so just have to hope they work their magic. It's going to be an intense couple of months.

Thanks for the donation and best wishes

[yorkie]

Welcome to the forum!
Sorry to hear this
All the best and good luck!

[Big Jim]

Originally Posted by yorkie

Welcome to the forum!
Sorry to hear this
All the best and good luck!

Thanks Yorkie and for the donation also.

[Stephen55a1960]

Good luck to you and your son. I hope the outcome is positive.

[SprinterMan]

Really sorry to hear about your terrible situation. Hope things get better.
Adam

[tsr]

I really hope that everything gets better soon. I know someone who is going through treatment for cancer at the Royal Marsden; I have heard how good the staff are, and you know better than I do that you are in excellent hands. My very best wishes go to you (and your family) and your son for his treatment.

As for your cycle ride, I will make sure I donate when I can - charity rides can be very worthwhile indeed. I hope that all goes well and safely when you do that, too!

On a side note, welcome to the forum, and if you're ever able to find time and opportunities to post anything about your railway work, you'd be most welcome to do so.

[deltic1989]

I have children myself and I know how I would feel if one of them was as ill as your son, it must be terrible for you.
Myself my partner and our chilren wish you the very best of luck with your cycle ride and wish your son the very best.

As soon as i am able (which will be Tuesday at the latest) you can count on a few pounds from us towards this very worthy cause.

Good luck once again and a very warm welcome to the forum.

[Big Jim]

Originally Posted by Stephen55a1960

Good luck to you and your son. I hope the outcome is positive.

Thanks Stephen55a1960, hopefully it'll all work out ok
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Originally Posted by SprinterMan

Really sorry to hear about your terrible situation. Hope things get better.
Adam

Thanks SprinterMan. Currently on day 2 of Chemo for the BMT. just got to hope this time it does the trick.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Originally Posted by SprinterMan

Really sorry to hear about your terrible situation. Hope things get better.
Adam

Thanks SprinterMan. Currently on day 2 of Chemo for the BMT. just got to hope this time it does the trick.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Originally Posted by tsr

I really hope that everything gets better soon. I know someone who is going through treatment for cancer at the Royal Marsden; I have heard how good the staff are, and you know better than I do that you are in excellent hands. My very best wishes go to you (and your family) and your son for his treatment.

As for your cycle ride, I will make sure I donate when I can - charity rides can be very worthwhile indeed. I hope that all goes well and safely when you do that, too!

On a side note, welcome to the forum, and if you're ever able to find time and opportunities to post anything about your railway work, you'd be most welcome to do so.

Thanks tsr. Yes the Royal Marsden are great and we feel lucky to be at such a great hospital.
I started as a technician for S&T in Brighton when I was 16. Have spent my whole life on the Railway and very much feel it's part of me.
I usually work on NR, but have spent quite a lot of time working on the Mid-Hants Steam Railway which was great.

Am currently working on Thameslink, but with all that's going on with William I can't work full time. Hopefully will get back to normal soon.
thanks for the message
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Originally Posted by deltic1989

I have children myself and I know how I would feel if one of them was as ill as your son, it must be terrible for you.
Myself my partner and our chilren wish you the very best of luck with your cycle ride and wish your son the very best.

As soon as i am able (which will be Tuesday at the latest) you can count on a few pounds from us towards this very worthy cause.

Good luck once again and a very warm welcome to the forum.

Thanks deltic1989. It was completely upsetting when he got sick and when we found out it was Leukaemia we couldn't believe it, as these things normally happen to other people (If you know what I mean, i.e. we couldn't believe it was happening to us). But what became clear is that it's completely random who it hits, and just because we're all healthy (and so was William) it doesn't mean it can't suddenly strike.

I think it's been going on and off since Jan 2011, and we just feel like we're in a complete long term battle. When he relapsed it was like someone we'd just fallen down a well shaft (or gone into a tunnel) and knew we had a long fight ahead.

Just got to stick with it and hope all goes well. One thing we know is that he'll be infertile, which is not a great feeling knowing that your 3 year old son will never be able to have kids.

Thanks for the message

[beermaddavep]

Fingers crossed for your little lad m8, best of luck.

Heartfelt wishes from a fellow parent.

[WCMLaddict]

James,

Good luck with your fundraising effort, I'll certainly donate few pound myself.

In the meantime if you and your family need some support and financial help during these difficult times, you should contact Railway Benefit Fund.

All the best.