When Josh Lee walked through the gates of his high school last month, he was happier than most to be there.
The Sunbury teenager, who is almost 14, returned to school on a part-time basis last month after battling a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer.
Josh was diagnosed with Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) – a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma at 12 years old after feeling unwell at the end of a basketball match.
His mum, Glenda Cooper, said Josh’s initial symptoms “came on pretty fast”. Three weeks later, he was diagnosed with ALCL and began treatment at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH).
“Treatment started immediately, and it was pretty aggressive treatment because the ALCL he has is a very aggressive form of cancer, and obviously the treatment had to be just as aggressive,” Glenda said.
“That meant that he couldn’t go home for four months … he was quite weak after only half the treatment of chemo. He was meant to have six rounds of treatment but only had three before … the cancer had returned.”
Doctors at the RCH then decided to try a bone marrow transplant with stem cells provided by an anonymous donor from Germany.
Josh spent the next nine months at the RCH before being declared cancer-free in June last year.
Since then, he has been gradually recovering and “trying to get strong”, Glenda said.
“It’s been a long journey, and it’s still ongoing for a few more years until he gets his strength and his body back to how it was prior to his diagnosis,” she said.
Glenda said improvements to Josh’s immune system meant he was able to go back to school.
She said he had missed a lot of the beginning of high school, and that it was almost as if he was beginning as a new student.
“He’s a little more eager than your typical teenager for school, just because he’s missed out on quite a bit … asking teachers for more work which is probably to their surprise,” she said.
A keen drummer and guitarist, Josh has returned to music lessons and hopes to return to playing basketball.
Glenda said she and Josh were supporting the Good Friday Appeal this year as a way of helping to give others the same level of treatment Josh received.
“Now he’s in full remission … he’s got more energy and he’s able to be more active … we’ve had all this treatment, and to be able to take advantage of the facilities at the hospital … our way to pay back is to be able to raise awareness for people to donate [to the appeal],” she said.
“The quality of the treatment, the knowledge of the doctors, some of them sponsored by the hospital to do PHDs, machinery, scans, surgeries … Josh has benefited from all of this throughout his treatment.
“And [it’s] ongoing … he’s going to be looked after for the rest of his childhood.“
Glenda said she was sharing Josh’s story to remind people that the RCH helps children of all ages.
“The [Royal Children’s Hospital] helps kids all the way up to the age of 18. We usually see the younger kids, but the teenagers, which Josh is now, you’ve got the older kids who are also part of the children’s hospital,” she said.
“Please donate wherever you can, however you can, to the Good Friday Appeal. It’s helped us and we want to be able to … help others.”
As a junior CFA member, Josh will be raising funds for the appeal with Sunbury CFA volunteers from 9.30am–1.30pm on Sunday, April 13, at Sunbury Square Shopping Centre.
Details: goodfridayappeal.com.au
