Kicking on

By Melissa Meehan
THROWING a piece of leather onto a boot brought some normalcy for Kable Dowsett, in a world otherwise turned upside down.
After three years on the sidelines battling cancer, Kable returned to the game this year.
So far the Berwick resident has played five games for ROC (Rythdale Officer and Cardinia) Football Club – the club he has played for since he was 15.
The year of 2008 started off as an exciting time for Kable, he and his wife Rebecca were expecting their first child and “everything was good”.
Their son Harper was born on 11 March and Kable said life couldn’t get any better.
But just 18 days later, the family was rocked by news no-one expected.
“There was a practice match and I wasn’t sure whether to play,” Kable said.
“Five minutes into the game I fell down innocuously like I had 100 times before but this time I shattered my hip.”
At first Kable and the rest of the team thought he had broken his leg and called an ambulance to the ground where he says he was whisked off to hospital.
Kable said he remembers sitting alone in the hospital when he received the bad news.
“I’d sent my parents off to see their new grandson, and Rebecca was at home recovering from a caesarean,” he said.
“The doc came in, and just by the look on his face I knew it was bad news.
“At first they thought it was pancreatic cancer and then other things.”
Sitting in the hospital alone, feeling like a pin cushion from all the tests, Kable said he worried about his wife and son.
“I thought about him growing up without a dad, there were so many other things I wanted to do with him,” Kable said.
After five days of tests Kable was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer within the blood that goes through the bloodstream and eats at the bone.
Treatment was started right away.
“The specialist told me there was no cure or cause, but said he had a treatment in mind and wanted to get started,” he said.
He started six weeks of chemotherapy.
“It felt like the worst hangover of all time, and then times it by 10,” he said.
The brain haze, as he described it, meant he couldn’t concentrate for very long, not even to watch a movie or read a book.
Radiation treatment was next – every day for two weeks, followed by another stint of chemotherapy.
In September 2008 Kable had his first bone marrow transplant, followed by another in January 2009 with bone marrow from his brother.
Since the second bone marrow transplant Kable said his health had gone on the up and up.
“The idea was to replace my immune system with my brother’s, and so far it has seemed to work,” he said.
Footy has always been a big part of Kable’s life.
And when he felt well enough to get out of the house he started to go down to cricket training just to be around his mates, including some he had played with since joining the club at 15.
“They asked me if I wanted to start playing cricket again, and I ended up playing almost every game,” he said.
After travelling to Mexico with his wife for a well-deserved break, Kable started as runner for the footy club.
“I said I’d do it to stay involved,” he said.
“It felt really good, so I said to the coach I wouldn’t mind a game.
“I’ve played the last five.”
The only fear in Kable’s mind before running onto the ground was having to make the call to Rebecca to say he was back in hospital if something happened.
But once he was on the ground he didn’t really think about it.
Kable is now in remission.
He still visits the Peter MacCallum Institute every three months for tests, but the doctors are happy with his progress.