My Story

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2001 to 2006
aged: 4
From: Leeds


Oliver James Marshall DOB 2nd November 2001
(our Ol Pol)
He died at 11.10 pm on Friday 26th May 2006
He was 4 when he died in the PICU at St James Hospital,Leeds
Oliver has 2 older brothers Dan & Matthew they were 19 & 6 when he died

Oliver had been poorly on & off for a few weeks before cancer was found, tired and pale and occasions of vomiting but the GP could find nothing wrong.He was diagnosed with NHL (non-hodgkins lymphoma) on 21st October 2005. His kidneys were a mass of tumours as was his liver. He needed dialysis to help him through he first few days before his kidneys strated to show signs of improvement.His outlook at diagnosis was good and the majority of children who do get this type of cancer survive. He responded really well to the chemotherapy and the tumours to his liver and kidneys had gone by Christmas and we thought he was going to be ok. He had a really tough time and needed a tube down his nose to help with nutrition which he hated but he was so patient and brave I felt ashamed of the times I would cry.
Oliver was given the all clear and stopped all treatment in March 2006 we had a big family party to celebrate and to treat him he'd missed so many family birthdays since he'd been ill. That was on April 1st April Fools Day 2006. April 5th he complained of feeling tired and asked to be carried and I knew something was wrong. He was sick again Friday morning and back in hospital on Saturday. He began to have headaches which became worse and worse as did the vomiting. His Drs couldn't believe the cancer hd come back and his stomach was clear of tumours - they just didn't know what was wrong. He became worse screaming at pains in his head and body and needed morphine to get any rest. His speech became slurred he couldn't walk and one eye went crosseyed. Finally a lumbar puncture confirmed that the NHL was back but this time in his Central Nervous System hence the headaches, speech & vision problems. This was Easter Monday 16th April. Immediate chemotherapy brought back an impressive improvement and by Friday his eyes & speech were normal, he had no more pain and we went home until the following Tuesday when he would start intensive chemo in the hope thi would kill the cancer. His outlook was not good but we remained positive.
Oliver had the first chemo course and was due to go home again on the Sunday - he never went home again. The chemo attacked the cancer but also killed his immune system and it was never able to recover. He had infection after infection, was in and out of PICU with raging temperatures often over 40 degrees. He became jaundiced and weaker as he was unable to eat, he was unable to be fed properly due to his bowels shutting down causing his stomach to swell and then his skin peeled like some terrible case of sunburn. This went on for 5 weeks, blood and platelet transfusions everyday but nothing worked and finally his breathing became an issue. He was very confused and not really with us much by that time but on the very last day of his life he rallied for a little while in the morning and asked us to watch Big Cook Little Cook & Smarteenies with him on CBeebies.
The end was sudden & unexpected by us and the medical staff. One minute everything was stable and the next his heart rate plummeted and stopped and he was unable to be revived despite every effort. He was unconcious at the time and had been for some hours earlier so at least he wasn't scared and at least me and his daddy were there wth him. The Dr's think his bowel may have perforated at the end causing potassium to be released and this stopped his heart.
Oliver was the baby of the family, still sucking his thumb when he was diagnosed. He had white blonde hair and blue eyes. He was funny and bright and very very cute. He had just started nursery and despite all my concerns that he would miss me took to it like a duck to water. He ws always brave and rarely cried when he hurt himself a real tough little boy but one who loved a cuddle and loved being read to.
His constant companion was a toy dog called Flops because he was a floppy bean bag type dog. He had Flops with him every day until he died and afterwards, the 2 of them were cremated together.
He loved the Star Wars films and we would watch them with him 1 - 6 in order over and over again. He loved the first series of the new Dr Who and had eagerly looked forward to the 2nd series but sadly was too ill by the time it started to really watch it.
He loved playing games and cricket with Matthew before getting ill. He was an extraordinary, ordinary little boy who I never thought I would be without and even now year on I can hardly believe he is gone. He is missed every single day and always will be.





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