Bye bye cancer good riddance

She’s nine years old, loves art, dressing-up, school, playing with her friends, siblings and cousins and watching her beloved local club, Corduff Gaels GFC. Laura Crossan from Carrickmacross is the same as any young girl her age would be but for the fact she has lived a lifetime of experience in just 10 short months, the likes of which many can only pray will never befall them.
The Crossan family state simply “a lot of water has travelled under the bridge” since they arrived at Cavan General Hospital last January where checks were carried out on a unwitting lump at the bottom of Laura’s leg that looked like swelling from a bee sting.
A week later, their eldest daughter was diagnosed as having Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that attacks bone or soft tissue, a moment her parents, carpenter Jonathan and school-teacher Sinéad describe as their “world being turned upside down”.
On September 16 last, Laura underwent life-saving surgery at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, in a bid to rid her body of the cancer once and for all when she had her right leg amputated above the knee.
On her leg, just before leaving St John’s Ward for theatre, Laura wrote the words 'bye bye cancer, good riddance’.

Early diagnosis
For all that has happened, the emotional and the physical cost included, the Crossan family are truly thankful that the diagnosis came early. Their outlook now is one of positivity, a rare feeling in a roller-coaster year they say, at times, was their “worst nightmare” made real.
“Cancer is a terrible, terrible disease, and what it does to a family. It fills you with fear. You ask yourself why? Where did it came from, or why it came for her? But there’s no answer. When you realise that, you realise there’s no point in asking those questions. That’s when you think, right we have to deal with this. Life goes on,” devoted dad Jonathan told The Anglo-Celt this week.
The Crossans treated the cancer in Laura’s leg very much as a parent speaks of the bogeyman, trying to take the “fear” out of the situation. They did the same when it came chemotherapy, one session at a time, and again when it came to the stark realisation that operating on Laura’s leg was the only way to save their precious girl.
“We talked about her bad leg and how the cancer was just trying to hurt her and how her leg was something she’d be better off without,” Jonathan explained. “It was all we could do.”

Heartbreaking decision
The struggle to get to that stage impacted not only on Laura, but on Jonathan and Sinéad too.
“When the doctors came to us and said this was the only course of action to be sure, I said absolutely no. This is my little girl, my baby. She came into this world with two legs and that’s how it’ll stay.
“You live in hope someone, somewhere will say something different,” says Sinéad, who set about consulting with some of the most imminent cancer research specialists around the world.
“We tried everything, pushed every door, but in the end all the doctors, they were all singing off the same hymn sheet.”
For Jonathan, as a father, he believed he’d reached his lowest ebb in the months following the initial diagnosis and the subsequent treatment, which racked his daughter’s fragile body.
But after tirelessly exploring all possible avenues, the “heart-breaking decision” to operate on Laura’s leg was made.
“That hurt more than anyone will know. She was on bouncy castle, a trampoline and a bicycle the evening before, and then theatre the next day. It was heart-breaking to be there having what looked like perfectly good leg removed.
“We’ve been a very lucky family really. Very rarely have any of the kids been sick. But we’ve been to hell and back this past year with what Laura’s gone through. It’s hard to believe anyone should have to make such a life-changing decision for their child. But you do it so they can have a future. I know when she’s older she won’t hold it against us.”

Prosthetic leg
Wheelchair bound in-part for the time-being, Laura, who is now back at school, hopes to be fitted with her first prosthetic leg at Cappagh National Orthapedic Hospital before her 10th birthday, next month.
But the loss of the limb is causing complications outside of the cancer treatment itself. Still to undergo 30 bouts of radiation and a four more sessions of chemotherapy, Laura is also experiencing phantom pains where her right leg used to be. That too, Sinéad says, has been “difficult” for all to come to terms with.
The Crossans though have found that talking about their experience is helping them in moving forward, and they hope what they’ve gone through could serve as inspiration to other families facing into similarly bleak situations.
“We’re thankful we had the choice with Laura. So many families don’t,” says Sinéad.

Hope for the future
The family in the meantime continue have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and goodwill shown to them and Laura since her diagnosis was first made public. Their home is adorned, wall to wall, with cards from well-wishers, while the treatment fund is regularly buoyed with donations, both big and small, from people nationally and internationally, touched by Laura’s story.
“We’ll never ever be able to thank everyone for their kindness. It has been incredible, to know so many people care, it really is wonderful,” says Jonathan who tells a story about opening an envelope last week with €20. “There was no name, just the money and a note which said 'God bless you Laura’. That’s happened a good few times. We’ll never have enough words to express our gratitude to these people.”
He adds: “The big thing for us now is to get Laura back up on her feet and walking again. Put this wheelchair away. There is work to do with that. It’s a long road yet, but we’re on it.
“We’ve held together through it all. The ultimate goal for us now as a family is ringing in 2016. It’s a whole new year, Laura will be finished her chemo, her radiation, and it’s a fresh start, full of new possibilities, full of hope. I think we can all look forward to that.”