After months of repeated sinus infections, Blair and Doug took their son to the emergency department at the Alberta Children’s Hospital to see if they could get some answers. The ER doc agreed that this needed immediate investigation as Spencer’s eye was starting to protrude a bit. Since Spencer also has Autism, it took some special measures (and sedation) to convince him that a CT scan was a good idea. 

While he was still recovering from the scan, the ER doctor returned to their room to say they had found a tumour and that they would be moved to Unit One right away.

Understandably shocked, Blair and Doug had more questions than answers when they met with oncologist, Dr. Lucie. She told them that she believed he had rhabdomyosarcoma (a soft tissue tumour) that would respond best to chemotherapy and radiation. Only days later, he had a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis and a central line inserted to start treatment.

Navigating life with a child with autism can be interesting at the best of times, but a cancer diagnosis could have made life very difficult. Blair and Doug are very proud of Spencer and how he has bounced back each time he has to do something he doesn’t want to do. They are very grateful to the care team at the hospital and the Tom Baker (where he received radiation) as everyone went above and beyond to help manage Spencer’s anxiety…even painting his radiation face shield like his favourite computer game character!

The donor-funded Hospital at Home program has also been very helpful. Spencer is much more relaxed in his home environment, so having the nurses administer his chemotherapy at home has made the entire experience much more manageable. It’s saved hours of time on the road (they live in Airdrie) and Spencer has avoided many long, potentially unsettled, days in hospital. 

Spencer recently finished all his treatment and received a present and certificate from his nursing team. While it’s sometimes difficult to know what Spencer is thinking, it’s pretty clear that he’s happy to have cancer behind him. His last three scans show that the tumour is gone and all that remains is scar tissue. Good news indeed!

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