Brodie Corless

Strike a Chord for Cancer Foundation Making life better by striking a chord in someones heart

Basil Lenzo (Left) from Datacom with Brodie's mum Traci and Brodie (right). Thanks to Datacom, Strike A Chord were able to present Brodie with a brand new laptop for making music.

BRODIE'S STORY:
In October 2008 my son Brodie, age 17 at the time showed me a lump in his neck. Brodie’s comment was “its probably Cancer” as he had already been looking on the internet, but I said its probably only a cyst but in the back of my mind I still had concern it may be cancer.

An appointment with our Family Doctor was made where he was very thorough and he then sent Brodie for blood tests, chest x-ray and ultrasound and wanted us back the next day. Once seated with our Doctor he said there is no easy way to say this “I am sure you have Hodgkins Lymphoma” - it was a huge shock but he explained that it is very treatable and is “one of the best cancers to get if you are going to get Cancer”

From there it was all go and up to Princess Margaret for a consult with the Oncology Department where more tests ordered.

Brodie was due to sit his Year 12 TEE exams during the week we were waiting on confirmation of tests but he decided not to sit his exams due to the stress of waiting on his results, unfortunately he also missed out on attending Leavers due to an operation to prepare for the chemotherapy treatment.

Once Hodgkins Lymphoma was confirmed Chemotherapy commenced in November 2008 with 4 rounds of Chemotherapy and then 3 weeks of Radiotherapy, The staff at Princess Margaret Hospital & Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital were fantastic and all our Family, friends and work colleagues gave us heaps of support while Brodie was going through his treatment.

Brodie was able to gain entry to Curtin University in February 2009 based on his years work and mock exams but had to defer due to his treatment.

Brodie finished his treatment in April 2009 and it was very successful and he now has 3 monthly check ups with xrays and scans

Brodie took all of the treatment in his stride and we are very proud of his positive attitude from the time of his diagnosis to today, he is now studying Mass Communications at Curtin University and was kindly donated a Toshiba Laptop from Strike a Chord & Datacom to help with his studies at University

Thanks again to everyone for their support

Traci Corless
August 2009.