Archer's Wish After Beating Cancer

For those of you who know Archer, and us as a family, you know what a traumatic journey we have been through since his diagnosis in December 2021. The support we have received from everyone has been nothing short of astounding; you have rallied around us to offer support in whatever ways possible, as well as donating to the wards to help better all the patients' lives.

For those of you who don't know Archer, or his story, here's a brief rundown. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma in February 2022, after an initial cancer diagnosis in December 2021. Throughout 2022, Archer only got to spend 6 weeks at home, as he was hit with complication after complication. His journey has been anything but expected, when all the doctors thought he would turn left, he would turn right. We can't count the amount of times we have heard consultants and specialists say that they've never seen someone react the way he has, that they had only ever read about certain things in medical textbooks and that Archer was responsible for many grey hairs and sleepless nights.

He was initially started on the Rapid COJEC protocol, however only made it through 3 rounds before ending up in PICU for the first time, which was quickly followed by a second visit after an allergic reaction to platelets. On the 5th June we travelled to Sheffield for Archer to undergo High Dose Chemotherapy, before coming back to Nottingham for the rest of his treatment, he wasn't discharged again until 22nd December.

On August 18th he went in for surgery to remove his tumour, his left kidney and to have a Peg-J inserted. It was an all day surgery, after which he was transferred to PICU for the third time. Although his surgery was successful, he lost all of his circulatory blood and was unable to be extubated, so he needed round the clock care. For 5 weeks he was intubated, at times on a combination of 6 different sedatives to keep him safe, although he woke on multiple occasions to throw toys at consultants or extubate himself. It was then decided he needed a tracheostomy so they could safely extubate him.

After his tracheostomy, for a week things seem to improve before he had his first crisis; he experienced a pulmonary haemorrhage, an event that has traumatised us all; it took the majority of the PICU staff to keep him alive, and we will be forever grateful, his soon to be consultant bagged him for hours as he was unable to breathe himself. After he pulled through, he then had 2 oxygen crises within 2 weeks, during which he was diagnosed with chronic lung disease and pulmonary hypertension. It was at this point he was put on palliative care and given 2 weeks to live.

For those 2 weeks everyone rallied around Archer, and us, to give us the opportunity to spend as much time as possible together. The staff were a second family to us, and held our hands, wiped our tears, and smiled with us whenever possible. By some miracle, Archer survived thanks to some steroids, and went from strength to strength. Within 6 weeks he went from needing 100% oxygen via his tracheostomy to being off the vent completely. Christmas at home had been a pipedream for us, but it became a reality.

Since being discharged at Christmas, he has come on leaps and bounds, he was able to have his tracheostomy removed, completed all his treatment as an outpatient, and has only had a couple of short admissions. Not only this but he has started Reception and on the 28th September we were told that there is no evidence of active disease after his end of treatment scans.

For a more comprehensive story visit: https://www.childrenwithcancer.org.uk/stories/patient-story-archer/

Now, alongside Give Kids The World, we're trying to get Archer to Disney World Florida, to give him a once in a lifetime holiday to celebrate him, his strength, his resilience and to make memories as a family, as we know that the future isn't promised. In order to do so, we need to raise $1000 for GKTW, we know this isn't a small thing we ask, but we're asking anyway, and will be eternally grateful for any donations, regardless how big. Anything over this $1000 will go towards additional costs for us, such as insurance.

We smashed our initial target, so we've added a further target now to help us cover the cost of his insurance when we go!

You guys are awesome!