Corran's Hopes

After a few weeks of feeling poorly, slowly struggling to walk and ache's and pains, aged just 5 years old Corran was diagnosed with High Risk Neuroblastoma Stage M.  This means the neuroblastoma cancer cells have spread from its source to other places in the body. Neuroblastoma is the most common form of embryonal tumour. Embryonal tumours are characterised by the proliferation of tissue that is normally only seen in the developing embryo. They are mainly seen in very young children. The causes of neuroblastoma are not known. No one could have known, and no one expected to hear such news when a diagnosis was finally found.    Falling ill to a firm diagnosis took only 7 weeks, so the family were completely unexpecting and unprepared for this devastating news.  Neuroblastoma accounts for 6% of childhood cancer registrations in the UK, with around 95 diagnoses annually. As with all embryonal tumours, neuroblastoma is most common in children under the age of five years and extremely rare after the age of 10 years. Neuroblastoma has one of the lowest survival rates of all childhood cancers, with only 67% of patients surviving to five years. Infants have a better outlook than older children: those diagnosed before the age of one have five-year survival of 83% compared to only 43% for those in the 1-4 year age group. Whilst under going treatment over the next 12 months or so to hopefully cure her from this awful disease, both in or out of hospital, needs family in attendance 24/7.   This means the close loving family of 4 has been split up, with a parent being absent from not only Corrans side, but the other parent absent from her 9yr old big brothers. Also, due to round the clock supervision required, that one parent has had to give up work for the time being, whilst the other has had to drastically cut hours to look after her sibling.  This obviously has not only a huge impact on finances, but is a major struggle for the family as a whole being so distanced from each other and unable to do family days.  Even simple walks in the park, or playing in the garden, that we're previously taken for granted are not currently always possible.  Corran is facing a lengthy stay in both Royal Aberdeen Children Hospital and Royal Hospital for Children (Glasgow).  Treatment involves chemotherapy and possible surgery. For those in the high risk group such as Corran, high-dose chemotherapy is used to eradicate any remaining neuroblastoma cells. High-dose chemotherapy also destroys the child’s bone marrow, however, so stem cell rescue will be required. Radiotherapy may be used if the neuroblastoma is classed as high-risk or if it has spread to several parts of the body. This may be either external radiotherapy, delivered from a machine outside the body, or internal radiotherapy using radioactive mIBG. A new type of immunotherapy called anti-GD2 therapy is currently being tested for children with high-risk neuroblastoma. Results indicate that this may be a promising therapy when given alongside other standard treatment for neuroblastoma; however it has unpleasant side-effects and is still undergoing trial. In the UK it is currently only available to certain children who are being treated within a clinical trial. Support will be given from not only hospital staff but also various charities specialising in Children's Cancer such as The Archie Foundation, Clic Sargent, Jacks Den, Calico, Clan, Little Princess Trust etc.  It is the hope of Corran and all her family to beat this terrible disease and get back to the beautiful happy, lively, determined wee girl she used to be.    The 2nd hope is to maintain as normal a daily life as possible for both Corran, her brother Rohan and the rest of the family during her treatment, ensuring fun love and happiness is always present no matter how hard things get.  To make sure that family is always available to visit wherever Corran is staying, especially when treatments and procedures get scary or too difficult for her. The 3rd hope is, at the end of our journey, to help as many of the charities involved in her care as much as possible in thanks for the support they give us and all other families affected by Cancer or Children's Diseases.  If you can help Corran's Champions on our journey to fighting against Neuroblastoma, and bringing this little girl, and others like her, back home and back to full health, then we will be forever thankful, as will the charities that benefit from any help given.  Hopefully one day they can find the cause of this terrible illness, and a cure for all children's cancers.  Any help you can offer, be it financial, donations, fundraising ideas, sharing our hopes or even just a shoulder to lean on, will be greatly received. The money received through this campaign will be used by the family to alleviate the financial pressures of having a seriously ill child.  In the event is is needed, it will also be used towards any treatment recommended by her team of specialists that incur costs or require overseas treatment.  Also to ensure that Corran always has family close, by helping towards travel, accommodation and maintenance costs.  It will also be used to keep everything as normal as possible for both Corran and her brother Rohan, allowing them to enjoy their time together as a family as much as possible. Any alterations to the home, or adjustments needed for everyday tasks that are required to make life easier, and keep Corrans health at the best level possible, as well as any equipment required to maintain mobility and full access to the things Corran enjoys.   It will also be used to help decrease the financial pressures experienced by the family due to Corrans treatment journey.  Some examples of spending are fuel costs for family travelling to hospital especially when in Glasgow, food costs during overnight stays, entertainment during long stays at the hospital (Hospital TV, 4G Data).  Childcare, school meals and out of school costs for Corrans brother Rohan.  Covering bills at home when income is too low to cover due to decreased hours and having to stop work.   We may also use some of the donations of toys, raffles etc made to supply the hospital and CLAN play areas that we frequently use, ensuring other children get the benefit of these on a regular basis. At the end of our journey, when Hopes 1 & 2 are complete all remaining funds will be split between the local and national charities that have given us support through out our journey, such as Hamish Warm Hugs, Clic-Seargent, Archie Foundation, CLAN, Calico etc. to name but a few.