Home > Our Story - The Lawless family
Tina Lawless from Maynooth, Co. Kildare, tells us about her experience at the Barretstown Camp when she went with her Daugther Jessica, Son Ross and husband Colm in 2006.
Jessica’s Story
With the whole family on antibiotics for chest infections in early 2005, mum Tina Lawless thought nothing of little Jessica’s cough and pale complexion.
But as she didn’t seem to recover and picked up other bugs and infections, Tina became concerned and decided to take the four-year-old for a blood test.
“I thought I would just get a blood test and it would come back saying she was a bit anaemic,” said Tina, of Maynooth, Co Kildare.
“But she had a cold sore and none of us had had one before and it just seemed very odd thing for a young child. I took her to Crumlin on March 6 and they gave her a chest x-ray and a blood test. They quickly came back with the blood count saying her haemoglobin was very low and that she would need a blood transfusion immediately. It also showed that her bone marrow wasn’t working properly and she had no immunity to fighting infection. I remember saying ‘It’s not leukaemia is it?’, expecting the doctor to say ‘don’t be so silly’, but he didn’t.
“Jessica was very weak and tired and when she overheard that she was going to have to stay in hospital she said ‘I’ll miss you mum’ thinking we would be leaving her there. ‘No way am I leaving you for a second’, I said trying to hold myself together.
“Once Jessica was diagnosed, chemo started immediately. Her hair started to fall out after only a couple of weeks but overall she did start to improve. We also had a bumpy start to her treatment as she developed diabetes, a reaction to the steroids, which thankfully didn’t last. She also got an infection in her arm.”
Tests showed that 96% of Jessica’s blood cells were cancerous. Within 28 days the chemotherapy had reduced this to 4% and a few weeks later it was almost undetectable, putting Jessica into a low-risk category. The family was told that Jessica would be on treatment for two-and-a-half years, with the first nine months of chemotherapy being the hardest.
Tina said. “She was absolutely amazing. As far as she was concerned, she was very sick but she was going to be fine. She just kept looking at us and we kept smiling and saying everything would be ok, so she just accepted it.”
“Our family and friends were devastated but were truly supportive. The practical help was invaluable. Thanks to them we got through those dark days,” Tina said. “You are living on the edge and I wouldn’t even have a glass of wine in case I wouldn’t be completely alert. Coming out of hospital was like bringing your first baby home. I was a bit of a nervous wreck taking her temperature every five minutes.”
The family – Tina, Jessica, Dad Colm and Ross, aged eight, – spent a weekend at Barretstown in autumn 2006.
“It was brilliant,” Tina said. “The volunteers inspired me with confidence to let go a little bit and let the children do their thing and not be in their faces all the time. You get very overprotective and hygiene becomes so important. You become neurotic as a parent which doesn’t help - it makes the kids more nervous so you need to be positive and to relax. At Barretstown there was that feeling of trust and everything had been looked after.“
The whole experience is extremely tough for siblings too. “I was away for days at a time and everyone kept telling me Ross was fine but when I saw him again after four or five days he was roaring crying,” Tina said.
At Barretstown Ross went climbing the high ropes tower, horse riding and a host of other activities, it wasn’t all about Jessica.
“Everyone who has a sick child should be able to go to Barretstown. You are really treated so well and there is such a lovely feeling of warmth and caring from everyone.”
