Charities Trust

 

 In September we'll be cycling 1000 miles in 10 days, from the most southerly point of this island to the most northerly, all in the aid of a fantastic charity - Families Against Neuroblastoma.

 Your donations and sponsorship will not only keep me motivated in what is going to be one hell of a personal challenge but will help to fund a charity that helps support those families of children diagnosed with Neuroblastoma as well as raise awareness and fund research into treatment.

Isla is three years old in. Isla lives with her Mum, Dad and two big sisters who adore her. Isla is like any other little girl, she loves all things Disney, being outside, soft play, dancing and music. What makes her that bit extra special is that she has beaten cancer.

At just five months old in April 2009, Isla was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma stage 4, a very aggressive cancer affecting mainly young children. Unfortunately this cancer does not have a very high overall success rate and treatment is aggressive. Isla received 8 courses of chemotherapy followed by surgery to remove the main tumour. After this she had high dose chemotherapy, followed by bone marrow transplant and three weeks of radiotherapy. Isla then had a course of cis retinoic acid for six months, completing almost two years of treatment in January 2011. End of treatment scans in February showed one area that may still be cancer or liver damage, so scans were repeated at the end of May. We were delighted to be told at the beginning of June 2011 that Isla was declared in remission and we're on the beginning of an apprehensive journey to reach three year and five year survival. It's time to ‘wait and see' how effective the treatment has been. Specialists feel that she has suffered damage to the liver, but are hoping that the liver will repair itself, so at the moment Isla undergoes regular scans to keep an eye on her liver. A planned liver exploratory op may be performed at the beginning of 2013.

IF the cancer returned, we would have to consider whether to seek treatment abroad for Isla that is not available in the UK. This comes at a price, so we have decided to set up a fund for Isla (through Families Against Neuroblastoma charity), incase this happens. If Isla is one of the lucky ones, any money raised and not used after the five years will be put into research. Unfortunately there is little money into research for Neuroblastoma, and more is desperately needed to offer better treatments and increase the survival rate, which is at a very low 15% for long-term survival of all cases.

Donating to this fund could mean all the difference to Isla if the cancer returned, and if she is one of the lucky 15% then it could help with developing new treatments here in the UK, either way your donation is important. 

Visit Isla's facebook group here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/399876857194/ 

I am very kindly being sponsored by ABL Resourcing for this event and I would like to extend my very sincere thanks to Paul and Mark at ABLR for their very generous donation to this fantastic cause.