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Hi, my name is Matthijs and when I was 13 years old, colon cancer was diagnosed at my father.
How I find out? Well..
My dad had to go to the hospital for a checkup,
and that's how it was told: we've found cancer.
In January 2008, our daughter Loek, who was 14 years old at the time,
was diagnosed with colon cancer.
The disease of our daughter didn't give any signals, shortly before the diagnose, she was playing hockey.
She actually turned from a very healthy girl into a very ill girl.
So January 2008 has been the start of us as parents, to deal with the disease of our child.
Both at the first aid and the polyclinic, there regularly are people who show the so called "alarming symptoms".
Symptoms like losing weight without being on a diet,
Things like blood with your stool, or change of defecations.
We always think, is it more than we think, like a celiac or people who have a weakness for lactose.
We will always check further, especially people who have family members with colon cancer.
Also when they've reached the age of 40, you'll think more,
Shouldn't we check for malicious things, and we will check this very actively.
Well, the traced the disease very quick, I feel that it all went very well and quick
At the time the disease colon cancer was diagnosed at our daughter,
The doctors predicted a very short period of life she had left.
That had to do with the fact that the tumor was spread at the time of diagnose.
Cancer at children, especially the kind of cancer our daughter was dealing with, is very uncommon.
Loek was child number 31 on the whole world, of the last 20 years.
That shows how special it is that she was diagnosed with this disease.
Looking back, it's a good thing that we noticed it so soon,
In this case, it all happened in a short time without any major problems.
I know another person who has had colon cancer, where it was discovered later.
The fuss around him was much larger, with more intensive hospital visits.
I think it's a good thing that we noticed it early.
Active search will happen in forms of imaging, with an echo or a CT-scan,
Or with an examination of the bowel, where we check the bowel with a tube with a camera,
When we find something that could be a tumor, we'll take a sample for the microscope
Then you know if it's a tumor or not.
This way we will research what's the source of the complaints,
So that we can be there as soon as possible, and we can make sure it doesn't turn into a big problem.
It's very strange, because I was in my first year of highschool when it happened,
On the one hand you're struggling with it, but on the other hand your life continues.
There was more tension than usual, also because of some mistakes during operations that caused bleedings,
That was not a good sign, and that caused some more tension at certain times.
I can remember that we told our daughter Loek: "You have cancer".
She replied: "How far is it?" and then we said: "It has been spread."
And her next question was: "Can I die from this?" and we had to say yes.
At this time, you expect your child to be the weakest, and that she requires all energy.
Suprisingly, this was not the case. It actually worked reversed for us.
I can remember I went home very sad on the thursday evening, and the morning after,
I had contact with her on the cellphone, about some practical things
But she could hear from my voice how sad I was.
Then she said: "Come on daddy, I'm not dead yet. And I'm not planning to any time soon!"
So we thaught all the energy had to go to Loek, came out to be the opposite.
She was very powerfull, and she reflected that on us parents and her brother Max.
Her powers went from inside her to her environment. That was very special.
I know more people who are dealing, or have dealt with this disease.
I don't know if these people are being more carefull themselves,
But this disease is closer than you expect, I think.
We always start by examining the story, checking somebody from head to foot.
We can also scan the belly, we can also examine the *** with a finger,
To check if you can feel a tumor. At the time this doesn't show anything,
But you do have suspicion, than you can continue by making an image of the belly,
Making an echo, with sound waves, just like with pregnancy,
When you can't find anything, we can make a CT-scan or do a viewing examine.
This disease colon cancer of our daughter, changed our lives completely,
Not only on emotional and spiritual level, but also from the missing, because she died last year,
But next to that, we changed our work. I used to be an entrepreneur, and I've quit.
We've started an initiative in the Netherlands,
We've done research about what's there for children experiencing cancer, or have relatives experiencing cancer.
There clearly was nothing for them, in forms of getting energy in a week,
It's an holiday, but we have other experiences. So we started the foundation Lucai,
Not because our daughter died, but because our daughter became ill.
Depending on the complaints, what you find and the expectations for somebody,
When somebody goes to the doctor early enough, and you find a malignant tumor,
That hasn't been spread yet, makes the chance of survival very big.
An operation or kinds of radiation will cure the disease.
When you check yourself later, or get diagnosed with spreaded tumors,
Then you can also be cured, for example if there are only two spreads in the liver.
Having a bad luck and experiencing a far more advanced form,
Even then, you can survive for many years with help from chemo therapy,
Which will shrink the tumor, and will hopefully keep it quiet for a while.
So no matter which stage you are in, we can always do something to improve the way of life.
In our case with our daughter Loek, we didn't overlook any signals.
So we can't say that we've had to intervene earlier.
It was a very fast growing tumor, and whenever the tumor turned into complaints, we took them seriously.
I experience that people around me have complaints, but don't go to the doctor.
The earlier, the better. The earlier we see something, the earlier we can help.
In our case, we feel that the peace is gone from our lives.
Our son Max can't have a normal headache, we worry much more.
We know that's not necessarry, but it's also very natural.
I can shake people to death if they keep walking with complaints without going to the doctor.
Time is your enemy regarding tumor growth, so make sure you check yourself.