Kalle

Life before cancer, June 7th 2004. First day of the holidays. A phonecall from OYS (Oulu University Hospital) changed our lives into life with cancer. Eight year old Kalle got back his test results from a biopsy taken when he had an operation on his lymph node. Our child has cancer. Son, mother and father headed off to the hospital ward 51. Uncle stayed at home to look after the little brother.

The initial shock hit us square in the face. Our routines and life turned into treatment plans. From the very beginning we were very open with everyone regarding what was the matter with our child. Openness was out way of dealing with a serious situation.

Our nearest and dearest were there to support us, we weren’t left alone. We only had one goal: Kalle will make it.

The treatment started the day we were admitted into the ward. Mum spend the days in the hospital and dad spent the nights there. Every day we spent time as a family in our son’s room. During the days grannies and uncle looked after the little brother and our home.

This arrangement felt natural to us as we lived next door to the hospital and our loved one lived in the same city. The treatments went on for two years and we got through them. Kalle had his last checkup at Christmas 2014.

We’ve had many years of living the life after cancer. Today he’s studying with the goal of taking over our family business and his little brother will be joining him in the future. We are stronger than ever. Luck was on our side and Kalle’s cancer was beaten.