Ethan Monck’s life is divided into three parts.
His first two years, which were marked by a double cancer diagnosis; the nine years he spent cancer-free; and the past five years, which have been marred by childhood cancer and other health problems.
Now, having spent more than 600 nights in his ‘second home’, Ronald McDonald House Monash, and countless others in hospitals, the teen is celebrating a small taste of normal life after starting a casual job – something Ethan and his family never thought would be possible.
Most of Ethan Monck’s young life has been marred by cancer. (McDonald’s Australia)
Ethan, now 17, was born in 2008 in the Victorian town of Sale, about 200km from Melbourne, to parents Mindy and David.
“He was our much-anticipated first child and was wanted for a long time,” mum Mindy Monck told nine.com.au.
“Ethan was the best baby you could ask for. He slept really well and was being breastfed.
“We thought he was thriving, until he wasn’t.”
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Ethan was a baby when he was first diagnosed with cancer. (Supplied)
It was during a check-up with a child and family health nurse when he was eight months old that the alarm was raised.
The nurse was concerned Ethan was underweight, and suggested they start formula. But that night, while Mindy was giving him a bottle, she noticed his stomach was distended.
She took him to the GP the next day, who sent him for an ultrasound and to a paediatrician, who told them Ethan had a tumour the size of a small football on his kidney.
They were admitted to Melbourne’s Monash Children’s Hospital the very next day.
“The paediatrician actually told us, ‘That is when it’s really going to hit you, when you walk through [the oncology] doors’,” Mindy said, “and that was true.”
Ethan was diagnosed with a Wilms tumour – a type of kidney cancer most commonly found in children under the age of five.
Despite its size, it was deemed stage one. Days later he underwent surgery to remove it and a portion of his right kidney.
“We thought he was thriving, until he wasn’t.” (Supplied)
“Because it was stage one, the chance of beating it was 90 per cent,” Mindy said.
“It gave us all hope. They actually told us if you are going to get a childhood cancer, this was the one to get.”
After the surgery, Ethan started chemotherapy but before he could finish the course, doctors ran more tests, which found the cancer had spread to his liver, lungs and pericardium, which surrounds the heart.
The cancer was reclassified stage four, and Ethan, who had just turned one, was in for the fight of his life.
“The doctors were no longer as hopeful,” Mindy said, “Our oncologist was quite honest with us.”
Ethan embarked on a year of treatment that included intense chemotherapy, stem cell rescues, two surgeries to remove the remaining tumours and a lobe of his lung, part of the pericardium and a section of his liver, and finally radiation, with the treatment carried out at three different hospitals.
Ethan has spent 600 nights in his home away from home, Ronald McDonald House. (Supplied)
The couple, who had stayed at the Ronald McDonald House Monash during Ethan’s first surgery, spent most of the next year there, with Ethan joining them when he could leave hospital.
“I think we got home [to Sale] for two weekends in the whole year,” Mindy said
Finally, after a year of treatment, the family went home, and according to Mindy they enjoyed nine “magical years”.
When Ethan was three-and-a-half, the Moncks welcomed daughter Lilly.
“From the moment Lilly came to the earth, Ethan was a doting brother. They have been best friends from day dot,” she said.
Ethan started school and had a “passion for learning”, according to Mindy.
He had regular check-ups and suffered some side effects from his treatment, including low bone density and a heart problem that later corrected itself, but was mostly well, and “had so much zest for life”, according to his mum.
Ethan, right, with mum Mindy, dad David and sister Lilly. (Supplied)
But when Ethan was in Year 6, Mindy got a call from school to say he had told a friend he couldn’t walk.
Mindy rushed him to the local hospital before he was transferred to Monash, where they were told Ethan had a tumour in his spine and another in his jaw.
A month later, with the pain having become unbearable, surgeons operated on the spinal tumour and were able to remove it all. It was later found he had two types of benign bony tumours that were a side effect of his earlier stem cell rescues.
The jaw tumour was also removed the following year.
Life went back to normal for a while and Ethan was able to start high school. But then a routine check-up when he was 14 found a tumour on his other kidney.
Doctors monitored it for about a year before it was finally removed. It was not a Wilms tumour but another type of kidney cancer usually found in older people.
Mindy said the surgery was brutal, recalling, “We felt like we almost lost Ethan then.”
Ethan has faced a number of health battles in the past two years. (Supplied)
Since then, Ethan has been diagnosed with more tumours and pre-cancerous conditions.
Last year, polyps were found in his bowel and in January this year, doctors had to remove his thyroid, which had pre-cancerous lesions.
He also has another kidney tumour, 11 nodules on his liver that are being monitored every three months, and another tumour in his spine.
”Every scan seems to find something new. Now, with each scan, we hold our breath,” Mindy said.
Due to the new spinal tumour’s location, doctors administered a nerve block to treat the intense pain it was causing Ethan.
Early this year, Ethan also had a nasal gastric feeding tube inserted after suffering unexplained gut pain that caused him to lose weight.
This week he underwent more surgery to replace it with a PEG feeding tube directing into his stomach, requiring yet another stay in Ronald McDonald House Monash, where he has spent more than 600 nights.
McDonald’s licensees Tim and Jen Peut were more than happy to help Ethan realise a dream. (McDonald’s Australia)
The Ronald McDonald House network provides a free, home-like place for sick children and their families, to ease financial stress and offer support.
“The biggest positive about Ronald McDonald House is that it freed us from worrying about where we were going to stay and [allowed us to] just concentrate on Ethan and getting him better,” said Mindy.
She said it had become a second home to Ethan, who on walking through the doors recently, said it “smells like home”.
Ronald McDonald House also offers tutoring to both Ethan and Lilly through the learning program it runs for patients and their siblings.
Not surprisingly, Mindy and Ethan are big supporters of the Ronald McDonald House charity, and attended its annual Gala Ball in Melbourne in August, where they met Sale McDonald’s licensees, Tim and Jen Peut.
Ethan had long wanted a casual job like his peers, but didn’t think it was possible.
Ethan loves flipping burgers. (McDonald’s Australia)
“Let’s be honest, no one else is going to employ someone who is nasal gastric fed, needs to take sick leave without notice and is having to take time off for medical appointments for days at a time,” Mindy said
After learning that Ethan wanted to work at McDonald’s like his friends, they vowed to make it happen.
Ethan went through the recruitment process, including the job application and interview, before finding out he was successful.
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Mindy said the day he received his McDonald’s uniform was the proudest of his life.
Working at McDonald’s like many of his peers had given him a rare chance to be a normal teen. His favourite part of the job is working on the grills and making burgers.
The job has also allowed him to pursue another passion: robotics. Ethan has been using the money he earns at McDonald’s to buy the components he needs to build and program a robot.
Ethan, centre, with David, Lilly and Mindy Monck, and Tim and Jen Peut. (McDonald’s Australia)
Mindy spoke to nine.com.au in support of McHappy Day on Saturday, November 15.
It is the largest fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC), which provides accommodation and support for families with children who are ill or injured.
“I want to support other families who are going through this,” Mindy said.
”The friendships we have made with the other families, and the amazing volunteers and staff who know Ethan by name have absolutely got us through the entire journey.”
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