I have spent the last two weeks creating a “sterile environment” at home, in order to welcome my son Matthew, who had to spend the end of the year with his mother and his maternal grandparents. He is due to arrive tonight, but the wait has taken forever.
A “sterile house”, also known as a “white house or clean house”, is defined as an area specially designed to achieve low levels of pollution through the control of certain parameters. Properly planning the design and construction of these spaces according to the subsequent use of each room is vital to minimise the introduction, generation, and retention of particulates within the room.
Such facilities may consist of one or more rooms, whose levels of differential pressure, air cleanliness, temperature, and other environmental parameters must be kept within specific limits for each room. To achieve a sterile environment, the space must be strategically distributed in such a way that the number of particles that can enter or be generated in the room is as low as possible.
Now, you may be wondering why provide such an environment to receive Matthew? It is difficult to answer when we have a lump in our throat, my son Matthew suffers from “ALL”, or what is the same as “Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia”. With a guarded prognosis and with the hope that it will not turn into “CLL”.
The entrance to the house has become “protocolised”. Like some Eastern cultures, you leave your shoes in the hallway at the entrance and replace them with slippers or socks. The use of mouthguards is compulsory. Usually you will be seen on the lower floor, with no access to the upper floor where the rooms are located.
At this point I remembered an old film “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976)”, perhaps, younger readers remember the boy in the film “Eli (2019)”. Well, in either film, the need for isolation is necessary to prevent a “virus” from shortening the patient's life.
I want to publicly thank my friends at Trebas Institute Ontario Inc, for the collaboration and donations made, as well as the medical team at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), and especially my friend Audrey Campbell, a nurse who will be assisting my little boy. Thank you to my readers for your prayers and encouraging wishes.
Medical history mentions my parents, “Matthew's paternal grandparents", as medical history, as dad passed away from pancreatic cancer and mum from breast cancer. Matthew's maternal grandparents, “still alive”, do not suffer from such diseases, but their grandparents suffered from “type 2 diabetes”.
Thanks to significant medical advances, most children who have been treated for leukaemia now live into adulthood, “on these assumptions are based my hopes”. Therefore, the health of children as they grow into adulthood has become a focus of attention in recent years, “at least here in Canada”. Childhood leukaemia survivors are at risk, to some degree, of various possible late effects to their treatments. This risk depends on several factors, including the type and subtype of leukaemia, the type, and doses of treatments they received, and the age of the child at the time of treatment.
Once treatment ends, a number of emotional concerns may arise. Some of these concerns may last for a long time and may include:
- Dealing with physical changes that may occur as part of treatment.
- Worries about leukaemia coming back or new health problems arising.
- Feelings of resentment about having had leukaemia or going through treatment when others have not had to go through it.
- Traumatic after-effects of knowing that a peer has not been able to cope with the disease, known at the hospital.
- Concerns about being treated differently or being discriminated against (by friends, classmates, co-workers, employers, etc.).
- Concerns about dating, getting married and having a family in the future. Having a child who inherits the disease.
No one chooses to have leukaemia, but for many childhood leukaemia survivors, the experience can be positive over time, allowing them to establish solid values. Other survivors may have a more difficult recovery period, adjusting to life after cancer and getting on with their lives. It is normal to feel some anxiety or other emotional reactions after treatment, but feeling overly worried, depressed and upset can affect many aspects of a young person's growth. This can impact how they relate to others, school, work and other aspects of life. With the support of family, friends, other survivors, mental health professionals and others, many people who have survived leukaemia are able to cope despite the challenges they have faced. In Matthew's case, being autistic amplifies the fears.
Fifteen years ago, he was not as “lucky” as he is now. I lived in a Third World country, sadly, my beloved daughter Sofia, with the same condition as Matthew, did not overcome leukaemia and left us at the age of ten. In my native country “today”, there is chaos in different areas “health, education, work, security” … Impotence envelops me with the news I receive through my brother who lives in Caracas. Blessings to my people.
I'm glad you made it this far and now share a comment about it, I'll be happy to read and respond.
Thanks to the #reflections Community for allowing me to post in your space.
The older you get, the more you realise that you don't want to have unnecessary dramas, or more exhaustive conflicts. You just want a place where you feel at peace or to be with people who bring you peace.
Keanu Charles Reeves
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