With a fourth, far-reaching cancer treatment in prospect, life is certainly not a party for Tom De Coster, but he continues to laugh all the time.
The 11-year-old boy from the Belgian town of Bierbeek is therefore covered in jokes. Earlier this week, Tom had called for greeting cards with jokes to be sent so that he had some distraction in the hospital. “Maybe I can break the record of 1500 tickets for one patient,” he said. Thursday evening the counter stood at 4789 tickets.
Tom was only three years old when he was diagnosed with leukemia. “In the beginning, the symptoms were not obvious,” says his mother, Karen Franck (47). ,, Our son looked pale, had stomach pains. But after a visit to the pediatrician and some tests, we were told it was leukemia, blood cancer. A sledgehammer.”
Tom had already undergone three major treatments in his young life. First a course of chemotherapy, two and a half years later a stem cell transplant and the third time it was about CAR-T cell therapy, in which so-called ‘killer T cells’ in the blood look for the cancer. “Next week Tom will be transplanting stem cells again,” says Karen. ,,This time from a foreign donor. Last time, the stem cells came from one of Tom’s sisters. Unfortunately, the cancer then returned. An unrelated donor should give a better result. But there is never certainty. If even one bad cell is hiding, it could hit again.”
That he asks to write a joke on the cards is typical Tom
Difficult days await Tom and his parents. “Such a transplant is done via an IV, but the impact on your body is enormous: it resists violently against those foreign cells. People sometimes don’t realize what it means to be in good health. That powerlessness, that insecurity, they are killer as a parent. We can only endure it.”
crazy
Tom and his mother will remain in isolation together during treatment. Only Tom’s father is allowed to visit, not even his sisters. Karen: ,,Tom’s immunity during the treatment is zero point zero, visits are far too great a risk. Isolation, that’s a lot of ‘must-haves’ and taking pills every day. Staying in the hospital is no fun. He prefers to hang the crazy out in class.”
Read more below the photo.
In any case, the leukemia has not been able to change that. ,,Tom has been ill since he was three, but in between treatments he likes nothing more than playing football with his friends. Fortunately, he can keep in touch via Bednet (synchronous internet education, ed.). That is very important to him. He can also play online with his friends on his Nintendo Switch.”
Sense of humour
To make the stay in isolation a bit more bearable, Tom launched a call earlier this week. He wanted to break the record for the most number of greeting cards received at UZ Gasthuisberg. “I can’t remember whose idea it was, but it has taken on a life of its own on Facebook,” Karen said. ,,The current record in Gasthuisberg is 1500 tickets. Tom hopes he can receive more.”
That turned out to be a piece of cake. After one day, 700 tickets had already been sent via a special online service from Gasthuisberg. Then the action really got going: Thursday in the early evening the counter stood at 4789. Record shattered.
Due to the great interest, UZ Gasthuisberg has called on people to no longer send tickets via the free online service. “We print out greeting cards that come in through this route every day. But due to the massive response to Tom’s call – which we think is fantastic – we can’t get it all together and other people have to wait a long time for their tickets. Normally we process about 3000 cards per year, now there are even more in one day… If you still want to send Tom a card, it is best to do so by post from now on.”
Laugh
Whoever gets into his pen should not forget to put a joke on the card. Because in addition to breaking a record, Tom also wanted to distract himself with his action. “At least then I can have a good laugh,” the boy said. “Typical for Tom,” said his mother. “He’s always had a good sense of humor.”
A little distraction will be more than welcome in the days and weeks ahead. “It may sound harsh, but the world can be stolen from us for a while,” says Karen. ,,Not that I don’t think it’s terrible what is happening in Ukraine at the moment, but here we live in a bubble and the outside world is very far away for a while. We have other concerns. The focus has to be on Tom for a while, that takes all the energy we have.”
If you would like to send Tom a card, you can do so to: UZ Gasthuisberg Attn Tom De Coster – Bierbeek – Unit E346, 3000 Leuven.
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