Mom Says Being a Pediatric Nurse is a ‘Blessing and a Curse’ After Her 3-Year-Old Son Is Diagnosed with Aggressive Cancer
A pediatric nurse is revealing the emotional strain of her son being diagnosed with a rare type of childhood cancer.In a conversation with BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, Sarah Sloman revealed her 3-year-old son, Teddy, has undergone multiple treatments, including intensive chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy and a stem cell transplant since being diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma 12 months ago.
She said the medical knowledge she’s gained from 20 years of working with children has “been a blessing and a curse” as she watched Teddy face “unimaginable things.”
“I’ve been caring for sick children for most of my working life,” Sloman told the radio station. “I, as a student, gave a family almost identical news when I was training 20 years ago.”
Sarah Sloman’s son Teddy.GoFundMe
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“It’s uncanny the resemblance to this particular situation. To be stood in that cubicle on the ward that day, to receive that news from a student nurse, a qualified nurse and a doctor, it just felt like an out-of-body experience,” she continued. “I wouldn’t wish this past 12 months on anyone.”
Teddy’s younger brother, Joey, who was born two months premature and is now 18 months old, has also been affected by the situation as “he’s barely known life with his mom and dad at home” due to the amount of time they’re spending at the hospital.
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“Part of me has just gone into work mode… it has become 24-hour shifts and just doing what we need to do to get Teddy through this,” Sloman told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.
“But he always wakes up with a smile on his face so that’s the thing that keeps us going, his strength and determination to beat this horrendous disease,” she added.
Sarah Sloman’s son Teddy.GoFundMe
Following a clinical trial, a maintenance drug called difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), which could prevent Teddy from relapsing, has been withdrawn from the NHS.
Sloman, from Newport, is trying to raise over $300,000 for the next phase of Teddy’s treatment, which is currently not available in the UK.
“This is what is so difficult with our current situation, is we have no definite answers at the moment,” said Sloman.
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“We could potentially buy [DFMO] from America and have it imported to us here in the UK. There is a vaccine trial in New York, in America, which we would have to go there and stay, or there’s an even newer trial going on in Rome,” she continued.
“But all of these things need their medical teams to accept us as their patient, so we’ve started the ball rolling for all three options to see which one we would be accepted for and which would be the best course of treatment,” Sloman concluded.
