Born a survivor
While baby Jude endured months of treatment, his family found a home away from home
From the very beginning, little Jude has been a fighter. As the youngest son of Nathan and Samantha Plant, Jude has continued to conquer what life throws at him since first being diagnosed with transient abnormal myelopoiesis (TAM) – a bone marrow disorder associated with infants who have Trisomy 21 (T21)/Down syndrome, and then later acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).
Although Jude was born in Bendigo, he was transferred to Monash Children’s Hospital soon after and placed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for intervention as he was struggling to breathe.
“Jude started receiving treatment for transient abnormal myelopoiesis – which was essentially described to us as leukaemia that would resolve on its own,” says Sam. Unfortunately, Jude’s illness did not resolve on its own, and he required extra medical intervention as his condition was placing pressure on his heart and lungs.
“He had a few doses of chemo and we were told he could have a one in 10 chance of developing a true leukaemia in the future,” explains Sam. After eight weeks in hospital, during which time the family was able to stay together at Ronald McDonald House (RMH) Monash, Jude was eventually sent home.
But it wasn’t long before Jude and the Plant family were back in hospital.
“We had around seven months at home”, explains Sam.“He’d had regular blood tests, and his platelet levels were low, and while he needed a bone marrow test to confirm the diagnosis, it was pretty clear he had developed acute myeloid leukaemia at that point.”
While the subsequent intensive chemotherapy significantly reduced Jude’s immune system and often made him nauseous, leading to a loss of appetite, he soldiered on through treatment, with his mum Sam by his side.“As soon as I was told we needed to come to Melbourne, I asked our paediatrician for a referral to Ronald McDonald House, because we knew, from our time in the house at Monash, that they were an amazing support,” she explains.“It was seamless, and we were able to stay there from basically the beginning.”
The Plant family stayed at Ronald McDonald House Parkville, where they spent the following five months while Jude underwent treatment at the Royal Children’s Hospital, just across the road.
This came as a welcome relief for the family, who were spending every day at the hospital.“It was nice to be around people in a similar situation to us, because you never want to be isolated and be on your own during a time like that,” his mother says.
Sam, a physiotherapist, was already on maternity leave during this time, while Nathan’s employer, Bendigo Bank, was happy to give him the ability to work remotely.
“They were amazing,” says Nathan.“They pretty much said,‘family first, don’t worry about it, work as much or as little as you can.’”
This flexible approach to work, combined with the accommodation at RMH, provided the Plant family with rare moments of relief throughout Jude’s treatment.
Even Jude’s older brother Micah, 4, was a fan of the house and loved being close to all the action.“He always asks to go back,” says Nathan.“He keeps asking if we can go get ice-cream or walk to the zoo.”
Thankfully, there’s no need to return. Jude is currently in remission, with regular monitoring ensuring his health remains in tip top shape.“We get blood tests every six weeks and we also have teleconference appointments with his oncology team, which is great,” says Sam.“As far as recurrence or risk of other leukaemias, we’re not certain what the future holds, but it seems the longer he stays in remission the less chance of him relapsing.”