Super-Dan

Guest post by Claire Downton, Mum to Daniel who attends  Musical Minis in South Wales. Last year we posted about Sing for Dan week and wanted to follow this up with a progress report.

Our wonderful little boy, Daniel Downton continues to amaze us everyday, he's such a fighter, such a positive little man, we can all learn a lot from him to be honest.

His last round of treatment in the Summer of 2012 hit him really, really hard. The high dose chemotherapy followed by stem cell transplant was the last big push in his treatment protocol and what a big push it was. He got so poorly it was unbearable, a true example of the saying "got to be cruel to be kind." But after 71/2 weeks in hospital, most of that in isolation, our weak, frail little boy was allowed to come home.

Since that last spell in hospital Dan has had his third Birthday, experienced a magical Christmas, started playgroup and nursery, returned to Musical Minis and has a full head of hair! He is no longer fed by a tube and his Hickman line has been removed. He has also had two clear MRI scans showing that everything he was put through, everything we as parents had to witness was worth it. He really is our Super-Dan.

He is loving his new freedom and is gaining strength day by day. He has lots of side effect issues that the treatment has caused, but we will deal with those as they arise. Dan's hearing has been affected and he now wears two hearing aids, but in true Dan style, he just accepts them and carries on.

As a family we can't thank the team enough on the Oncology Ward at the Heath Hospital in Cardiff and Velindre Hospital for his Radiotherapy. He is now a regular outpatient and will remain so for a good while, but from where we were this time last year........... we are all in a better place.

As Matt and I have more time to reflect on last year, we are trying to do some fund raising ourselves to help the amazing charities that supported us through the toughest time of our lives. LATCH (LATCH is a charity that supports the children who are receiving treatment for cancer at the Children’s Hospital for Wales and their families), CLIC SARGENT (CLIC Sargent is the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people, and their families), MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION ( Make-A-Wish aims to grant 1,000 magical wishes per year to children and young people fighting life threatening conditions) and DREAMS AND WISHES (Dreams & Wishes is a children's charity dedicated to fulfilling the dreams of seriously ill children and their families). These are all fantastic charities that support the children and families in different ways. If anyone would like to support LATCH we currently have a Just Giving page that you can find here.

A huge thank you to everyone; friends, family and strangers who supported as through last year and who continue to guide us on our new path. Our boy is truly amazing, a real inspiration who leads with a huge smile into every challenge he is faced with. We are so proud of our Super-Dan.