It’s cold outside in the school yard. The sun is high in the sky, and the five boys sitting around one of the wooden tables chat cheerfully. Homework, what to do next weekend.
On the far left sits Gard Wikmark (18).
He was preparing for his last and final year of high school. 13 years of schooling will soon be over, but before that several important things remain.
Good grades, deciding what he wanted to study, where he wanted to travel, and perhaps the funnest of all: Russian time.
But last autumn everything changed.
CLASSMATES: Gard and his friends Isak Auby Anthonisen and Dennis Cleophas are all in the media department at Horten upper secondary school. Photo: Sigve Bremer Mejdal / TV 2
A lump in the stomach
It was on a mountain trip a few hours from Horten that Gard first noticed that something was wrong. A lump in the stomach.
– At first I thought it was a hernia, says Gard.
When he got home, he made a doctor’s appointment – just to check it out.
The GP also didn’t think the lump in the stomach was a sign of something bigger, says Gard. Eventually it started to hurt. He was more tired than before.
He went back to the doctor and that’s when the unthinkable was mentioned for the first time.
As usual, Gard is a busy 18-year-old. He is studying media and communication at Horten upper secondary school, and dreams of a career in film.
Ideally, he would like to study and work abroad, but first he would like to travel.
However, the future plans were put on hold while the doctors tried to find out what was wrong.
One of the doctors who examined him said that there was a chance that the lump in his stomach could be cancer.
UNthinkable: Gard’s friends knew he was in the hospital. They never thought it could be as serious as cancer. Photo: Sigve Bremer Mejdal / TV 2
Didn’t believe it
The time that followed was full of various tests to find out what was wrong.
– I almost decided it was cancer. I often think like that when I’m sick, says Gard.
It was better to think negatively, so he didn’t get disappointed.
Although Gard told those around him several times that he thought he had cancer, his friends did not believe him.
– He had said many times that he thought he had cancer, but nobody thought it would happen, says classmate Kevin Karlsson (18).
The thought that it could be cancer hung over Gard while the doctors tried to find out what was wrong.
The doctors eventually took bone marrow samples and finally had an answer.
Gard had cancer.
FINAL YEAR: There are not many months left in the final year of high school. It turned out to be a completely different year than Gard had imagined. Photo: Sigve Bremer Mejdal / TV 2
– I didn’t believe it at first, says Kevin.
But it was true.
It still took some time to find out exactly what type of cancer Gard had. The doctors could see that he had cancer, but not what type, he says.
– I was at Radiumhospitalet for two weeks to find out what type of cancer it was, says Gard.
Finally the message came.
– Just grew and grew
He had contracted lymphoma. A chronic type of cancer he has to live with for the rest of his life. There is no cure.
– The doctors called it old man’s cancer, says Gard.
Lymphoma cancer is not common in 18-year-olds. Therefore, it is also difficult to give him a prognosis, since there are so few of his age who have this type of cancer.
– You can never prepare for this. An 18-year-old associates cancer with death. Many have grandparents who have died of cancer.
NEVER BEING PREPARED: Despite the fact that Gard thought he had cancer for a long time, he could not prepare enough for the final message. Photo: Sigve Bremer Mejdal / TV 2
The first treatment Gard began was immunotherapy. A treatment that stimulates the body’s natural defense mechanisms against cancer.
But it didn’t help.
– The tumors just grew and grew. I had swelling in my neck, legs and stomach. They grew even though I went to treatment.
Lifelong illness
– It is very special. I have seen it affect people under the age of 18 approx. 3-4 times during my career, says Alexander Fosså.
He is a senior physician in the cancer treatment department at Oslo University Hospital, and is also Gard’s doctor.
The cancer he has is called follicular lymphoma.
It usually affects older people aged 50 and over. It also makes it difficult to give Gard a prognosis, since there are so few young people who have this type of cancer.
CHIEF DOCTOR: Alexander Fosså is chief physician and head of the research group for lymphoma. Photo: Sigve Bremer Mejdal / TV 2
– We do not have large numbers of young men affected by this disease. The average patient, when we are talking about older patients, lives with this for 20 years or more.
Follicular lymphoma cannot be completely cured. It can bloom again after a few years, and the patient must then undergo a new treatment.
– It’s like shoveling snow. You can shovel the snow away and it will be very nice, but then there will be another snowfall, Fosså explains.
Hope for the future
The immunotherapy treatment did not work. The tumors did not disappear, but only grew larger and larger.
After two months, he started chemotherapy.
– It has gone very well. Until three weeks ago, says Gard.
Then he suddenly became very ill, and had to be admitted. He spent two weeks in the hospital in Tønsberg, before being transferred to Radiumhospitalet for a week.
Last week he was discharged. Now he is back at school, and trying to live as normally as possible.
Like most third graders, he is looking forward to Russian time, even if it will be different for him.
A DIFFERENT LIFE: While friends and classmates can go to parties and trips, Gard has to be more careful. Photo: Sigve Bremer Mejdal / TV 2
The last check is 5 May, the same day as the Russian meet Landstreff Stavanger begins. Gard doubts whether he will get the opportunity to participate.
– The worst thing for me is the national meet. When you’re a wanderlust, it’s big. I have a ticket and everything, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to go.
As a cancer patient, he has to take more precautions than most 18-year-olds. A disease he has for the rest of his life, unless a cure is found.
And there is hope.
– With this disease, new treatments are constantly appearing, says superior Fosså.
THERE IS HOPE: Senior doctor Fosså says that a lot is happening in research into lymphatic cancer. He does not rule out that there may be a cure. Photo: Sigve Bremer Mejdal / TV 2
– The hope is that something will emerge that will make it go from a chronic disease to a curable disease.
This is exactly what Gard is also hoping for. He will do everything in his power to make a breakthrough in the fight to find a cure for lymphoma.
Won’t let cancer define you
Next week, Krafttak against cancer will be launched. A fundraiser where the money goes to research against cancer against its spread. The Russians account for a large proportion of gun carriers.
Suddenly this action took on a completely different meaning for Gard and his friends.
– I have met many cancer patients who are sicker than me. That is why it is so important that we all contribute, says Gard.
– There is much more research now. That is why I want to raise money for cancer research which may one day lead to a cure.
Now there are two courses of chemotherapy left. The tumors are almost gone, but the certainty that they may return is always there.
NEW FOCUS: Gard and his friends will all be gun bearers for Krafttak mot Kreft. Photo: Sigve Bremer Mejdal / TV 2
– I have met many cancer patients who are sicker than me. That is why it is so important that we all contribute. Not just to find a cure, but to give people more time. It can mean everything to a patient with spread.
After the summer, he wants to live life to the fullest. He dreams of working in film, and preferably abroad. But first he wants to leave.
He has already planned to travel to Nepal, Vietnam and Tokyo in the autumn.
Although he has a chronic cancer, he does not see life darkly.
– I am incredibly grateful that I live in Norway, and that we have such good nurses and doctors.
Everyone around him has made everything so much easier, he says. Support from doctors, nurses, family and friends.
On his left wrist he has a bracelet that he got from a friend. His name in pink letters adorns his wrist.
– I got it from a friend. She didn’t want cancer to define me, he says, adding:
– I shall not be defined by my illness.
