Jarrod Lyle has won the first battle in his fight against leukemia, but the war is far from over.
Lyle, 36, was officially declared in “remission” last week when his blood counts returned into a “normal level” for the first time since he began chemotherapy in late July.
But while Lyle’s wife Briony was delighted the champion golfer had taken the first important step, she said Jarrod had larger hurdles to clear before he could return to a normal life.
“What has happened since he began chemo has been great and really important,” Briony said.
“But the word `remission’ might be a bit misleading in this instance because he’s not `cured’ yet.
“Jarrod will return to hospital at some point in the next week or so for `consolidation chemo’ to try to keep things as they are for the moment.
“But he will still need to have a full bone marrow transplant if he’s actually going to be `cured’.”
Lyle has twice previously beaten acute myeloid leukemia, but the process requires the full transplant during which his immunity levels will be reduced to zero, as if he was a newborn.
“So we are thrilled with all the support everyone has offered us, and their enthusiasm when they see the word remission being used, just as we had ourselves,” Briony said.
“But I suppose we just wanted people to know that it’s just one step of many we’ll have to take.
“Jarrod is still very ill, is at high risk of infection, and is taking huge amounts of medication daily.
“The treatment plan going forward and the continued use of chemo will make him even more unwell for a lengthy period of time, before hopefully we can get this stuff out of his body once and for all. “
For those wanting to express a message of support, click on www.golf.org.au/goodluckjarrod and share your thoughts.
If that still doesn’t feel enough to you, log on to www.challenge.org.au/donation/ and make a donation to Challenge, of which Jarrod is a proud ambassador, as they help with kids as they battle cancer.