“We thought this day may not come”: Kate Langbroek gives update on son’s cancer journey
Radio star and comedian Kate Langbroek has shared an emotional update on her eldest son Lewis’ cancer journey.
The mum-of-four gave fans an update during Thursday’s episode of 3pm Pick Up on KIIS FM and was full of praise for the medical care Lewis has received since being diagnosed with leukaemia when he was six.
“We went through all that treatment and rarely paid for anything - that is the magnificence of the country we live in, and the magnificence of taxpayers,” Lanbroek said.
After suffering through four years of “terrible” treatment, the now-18-year-old has been going to the “amazing” Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne with his mum for regular check-ups to monitor his health.
After his annual check-up on Monday, Langbroek said that for the first time, she was sent out of the room several times to give him privacy as he disrobed.
“It was so strange! But it’s great because it means that he’s a grown-up,” she told co-host Monty Dimond.
“Anyway, they told us, ‘This is the last time we’ll be seeing you at this hospital, because Lewis is transitioning to an adult hospital’. I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, there were so many times where we thought this day may not come’. You’re confronted with what the course of his illness looked like, and there were times when we thought, ‘I don’t see how we can make it through this’.
“And there we were - being DISMISSED by the beautiful doctors and being sent on our way,” she said with a laugh.
Langbroek added that the annual check-ups were often surprisingly emotional as they bumped into hospital workers who had cared for Lewis when he was severely ill, revealing that their last visit saw a nurse who had treated Lewis approach them in the cafe.
“She said, ‘I looked at you when you were little and you were really sick. We never wanted to tell you this at the time, but we were so worried about you. We worried you might not make it’,” Langbroek recalled.
“She had tears in her eyes, I had tears in my eyes - and Lewis is just standing there like a big doofus.”
She said the encounter made her realise how important bringing a “good news story” back to the hospital was for both staff and patients, with the success of Lewis’ treatment being one good example.
“I just love him, I love him,” she said.
Langbroek has previously spoken about her son’s journey through numerous checkups and appointments, sharing an update with fans on Instagram in January.
“My eldest boyo got a good checkup on his thyroid,” she wrote. “How brilliant to hear the endocrinologist say ‘normal, normal, normal, normal, normal, normal, good!’”
The mother-son duo celebrated with Lewis driving (to Langbroek’s praise and nervousness expressed in emojis) to see his grandmother, and with Langbroek getting her first facial in years - “so now we are glowing inside and out”.
“Thank you friends, for your words of love and solidarity in my previous post. Every prayer is appreciated. Every day is precious.”
Image: @katelangbroek (Instagram)