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Making it through cancer Nicholas Howard had his life pretty well mapped out when he was diagnosed with cancer. He revealed to Kymberly Martin that what matters is family, friends, love and a little bit of community help. As bad as it was, missing out on so many things and falling behind at school were still hard to deal with at the time.” Two years after his initial cancer diagnosis, cancer returned in his other leg, also requiring chemotherapy and major surgery with a total knee replacement. Again, he missed school but during his rehabilitation The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne set up an education service and when he was feeling well a teacher helped with his homework. He returned to Ronald McDonald House and resumed schooling although initially quite sick, playing catchup when possible. He finished his schooling in Bendigo and moved to Melbourne to attend university at the end of 2006.
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here is surely no-one on the planet unaware of McDonald’s but what about Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC)? A Melbourne family knows it well. Nicholas Howard was 12-years old when he developed the bone cancer osteosarcoma. He was living in Bendigo with his family at the time. Nicholas had to visit Melbourne for treatment that involved 8-10 months of chemotherapy and ultimately an amputation of his left leg. Ronald McDonald House became his “home away from home”. Because the travel time from Bendigo was a two-hour drive and his treatment regime could be a week or two-week block, his parents and younger siblings stayed at Ronald McDonald House, 200 metres from the hospital, where they could be with him for most of the day while he was receiving treatment and when his prosthetic leg was being made.
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“It was an intensive time physically with treatment and rehab therapy, but there were other kids and families in the house going through similar experiences which we could share, and it was nice to have home-cooked meals and a comfortable bed,” Nicholas said.
“I had to put my trust in the doctors and my parents who were looking after me.” But despite this there were challenges and the biggest was coming to terms about losing his leg. “I was very active, and sport was my main interest to a point where I hoped to play at a professional level. To be told at 12 years old to recalibrate and rethink my priorities at such a young age was the hardest thing,” he said. “The loss of school time and social events with my friends was also difficult, as was the treatment. Feeling sick, losing weight, and not having much energy. But that is what happens.
Nicholas was in remission for nearly 10 years when cancer came back in 2012, this time into his lung and two years later cancer showed up in his right kidney, both requiring surgery to remove the tumours. There has been no further cancer since then with yearly checkups at Peter Mac (MacCallum Cancer Centre). He does not use a wheelchair or crutches and is independent for most things although showering is tricky. He can drive but wears hearing aids, as a result of hearing loss from chemotherapy as a child. Don’t underestimate the importance of community support services The Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he has his prosthetic leg made, is looking at switching him and others over to the NDIS as he was diagnosed before the scheme was introduced and covered by the public health system. “I understand the funding models are