Capital Football lost a much-loved member of its football community recently when referee Cam Shelton’s brave battle against Cancer was brought short. In the early hours of Sunday 18 June, Cam’s fight against Ewing’s Sarcoma ended when he tragically passed away leaving behind family and friends who would mourn the loss of one of life’s better people.
Before he passed, Cam was consistently working to bring more awareness to this insidious disease. He was set to run in the City2Surf for the second time with to raise awareness and funds for Chris O’Brien Lifehouse. His referee colleagues, and close friends, intend to run in his honour to achieve these goals.
You can donate to their fundraising page here
Cam somehow maintained a bright and airy personality despite the many stages of his battle, and he took time to put some words together for us to keep Ewing’s Sarcoma at the forefront of the public’s thoughts and gain the funds needed to help those requiring the services he was, unfortunately, forced to need.
His story is even more poignant now after his tragic passing.
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Cam Shelton – My Cancer Battle
In March 2021 I was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma in my L4 Vertebrae. Life instantly changed after this. Since then, I had 14 cycles of Chemotherapy. Each cycle was five days in a row, and each day was eight-to-nine hours lying in bed in the chemo ward. I got sick eleven times during this first lot of Chemotherapy and was hospitalised, nearly dying in ICU on one occasion.
Each cycle of chemo was two weeks apart, but due to my hospitalisations, we often had to delay the start of a cycle. Early on I had a small surgery to insert a portacath into my upper right chest. This is a device that sits under the skin which they put a special gripper needle into for chemo, blood transfusions, and blood tests.
In September 2021, I had to have spinal surgery to stabilise my spine. The concern was my spine would collapse if it was not stabilised. I had to travel to Sydney in the middle of the biggest Covid lockdown ACT and NSW had to have the procedure. The procedure was called a L3 to L5 Pedicle Screw Fixation.
My Surgeon put large titanium screws in my L3 and L5 vertebrae and then connected them with large titanium rods. This outcome was the three vertebrae would work as one vertebrae and the area is now strong and stable. After the surgery, I had to stay in hospital for seven days. During this time, I had to learn how to walk again, sit, stand, go to the bathroom, all of those trivial things which became significant issues. Because of Covid restrictions I was only allowed one visitor per day, making like hard on me and my family.
Once I left hospital, I had to travel home via car, as due to Covid no other methods were available or offered to me. This was an incredibly painful trip home! We were then forced into two weeks quarantine once we got home, even though we had only been at the hospital and the hotel. While I was in quarantine, I still had to start Radiation therapy. In total is had six weeks of Radiation. This involves going to the hospital every weekday for 6 weeks straight and lying under the machine for 35-minutes.
I also continued finishing my chemotherapy after getting home from having my surgery.
I finished chemotherapy in January 2022. In March 2022 I was told I was in remission! This was an amazing outcome and I thought everything was over. In May 2022 I sadly got told the cancer had returned, this time in my spine at the L4 spot again, but also in my pelvic area and upper leg area.
I then started chemotherapy again, this time in Sydney. I had to go to Sydney as this time I had to admitted to the ward to have chemo. I had four cycles, each lasted six days in total, as each bag of chemo took 24-hours to infuse.
There were five bags, then we had to add on time for the change of chemo bags, flushes, and delays. In total, I was in the ward for six days straight having chemo. The cycle was three weeks apart. We had to drive home in between each cycle of chemo. The drive home was horrible for me, as being just out of chemo, I felt sick, and my eyes could barely follow the road.
Having chemo in Sydney allowed me and my family to use the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse and the Sony You Can Stay Centre. This has accommodation in the building two levels below the ward I would have chemo in. The centre also had living areas, large kitchens, a movie theatre, and a music studio. This was so families who travel for treatment have somewhere decent to live and some entertainment too.
After the four cycles of chemo in Sydney, I had more scans. They showed nothing had improved cancer wise. Therefore, I had to have more chemotherapy. I had scans at the end of September after the chemo in Sydney. On the 30th of September, I met with my Oncologist and Surgeon in Sydney.
The told me that my Metastatic cancer areas had got worse, and there were new Metastasis Cancer areas in my lungs and other areas. As a result of the bad scans, I was told I was Terminal. They said I would have six to nine months left of life. They also said my spine would collapse in three months. As a result of this horrible news, I went on a holiday to the USA five days later.
After going away, I was then put on another type of chemotherapy. During the first days of the new cycle, I had a whole body anaphylactic attack, causing me to nearly die. The nurses were very quick to act, and used a EpiPen on me, however realised I would need a double dose, so then used a second EpiPen. Luckily, I recovered slowly and after a while was transferred to the hospital for monitoring.
Before the end of the year, I had two more cycles of Chemotherapy. Again, a different Protocol. These days were shorter and the effects on me were somewhat nicer to me. In January 2023, I had one cycle of chemo, continuing on from December.
In February, I had some scans and discovered I had more Metastasis areas. One specifically in my leg, just above my right knee. In early February, my pain levels went off the rails, and I had to be put on a Syringe Driver to help moderate my pain medication. This is a device that stays with you while pumping pain meds into you.
I also had a major fall in February while at home. I manage to fall on my right leg and crush the whole leg, injuring myself from the waist to the toes. I had strained my leg badly, and after multiple scans found out I had multiple fractures in my left knee and tibia bone. Since the fall, I have been in a wheelchair permanently. I have to use crutches to get into smaller areas.
In the middle of March, I started a brand new chemo protocol. I was the first person in the ACT to receive this treatment. The chemo was five days in a row, but only three-to-four hours each day. The side effects from this chemo included not being able to swallow, including liquids, mouth ulcers, being incredibly tired and severe acid reflux.
I was soon starting my 25th chemotherapy Cycle. This is a number that I really didn’t want to get to. Chemotherapy is simply horrible. The way it makes you feel like you’re dead. You feel sick. You often get ulcers in the mouth, can’t swallow, even liquids. Acid reflux and severe tiredness and fatigue. Chemo is the closest thing to hell on earth. Having to go through it is simply horrible.
I have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder from my times in hospital and chemo. I have had over 600 Needles since I was diagnosed. I have had over fifteen bags of blood transfused into me. The experience of having cancer and going through the process of trying to beat it takes so much energy and effort.
I spend a lot of time lying in bed or sitting on my couch. I just don’t have the energy to do anything else. There have been times when my parents have come to my place to force feed an orange into me just so I eat something. There have been times when I can’t get to my fridge. Even looking at my phone is sometimes a challenging task. At my lowest point, I weighed 67kg. When I was diagnosed, I weighed 93kg. This is just some of the toll chemo and all my treatment has had on me.
Cancer is horrible. Seeing lots of young adults have the same aggressive cancer as myself go through the same prosses hurts. Seeing some of the die from this cancer hurts even more. Sarcoma needs to be heard of more. It needs to be funded more. It needs to have more publicity. Ewing’s Sarcoma needs to have more time in the spotlight. It is a nasty, horrible thing that can be fixed, with more research, funding, and time in the spotlight.
You go through this experience with the support of your family and friends. My family have simply been amazing in supporting me. Without them I would have struggled even more. My friends, who check up on me, and support me, I appreciate them more than they’ll ever know! Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone you know who is going through cancer treatment. Just a quick text makes so much of a difference.
I’m sure there are many things I have gone through that I have forgotten to mention in this. But I hope it gives you a small idea of what myself and many others have to go through.
Cam Shelton – Always Fighting
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RIP Cam Shelton
Image courtesy of the Canberra Times