By Tracey Brand | Director
Dear Friends
It is difficult to believe that we are already in August. It feels like yesterday we were wishing everyone a Happy New Year. This year has been a busy one for us with over 200 new patients referred to us already. Everyone of these precious children come with their own stories and the most resilient parents who pitch up day after day trying to do everything they can to help their child. In some cases, its not always possible as sometimes the system fails them.
One such family sticks in my mind. From birth, MM’s mom noticed that there was something different in his one eye. She went to her local clinic and was told that it is nothing to worry about, it will go away. Every time she went to the clinic for MM’s check-ups and immunisations, she raised her concern about his eye and every time she was told not to worry. As the months passed, she noticed that the spot wasn’t going away, in fact she felt it was getting bigger. She went again to her local clinic and was told the same thing. She wasn’t satisfied with that and borrowed money to take MM to a private GP. The GP took one look at MM’s eye and gave her a letter for her local hospital.
At the hospital, the doctors were concerned that MM might have a retinoblastoma (cancer of the eye). They told his mom this and said that she must go to the Quaternary Hospital to see the ophthalmologists and oncologists. She was terrified. At the hospital her worst fear was confirmed. MM had retinoblastoma. The difficulty for us as a team is that this mom did everything in her power to protect her child and to get him treatment, and every time her concerns were ignored.
With an earlier referral to the Quaternary Hospital there is a very high chance that the retinoblastoma could have been treated and the eye saved. Unfortunately given that it took nearly a year for someone to refer her, MM had to have his eye removed to prevent spread and is undergoing intense chemotherapy. As a team we are supporting MM and his mom psychosocially and spiritually. She is thankful to the team for the support and for being able to express her feelings. She has anger but is so grateful that someone tool her seriously and that MM was able to get to the Quaternary Hospital before the cancer had spread to his brain or the other eye.
Palliative care is not only about end-of-life or physical symptoms, but also about supporting the family through every part of their journey, to listen to their feelings and provide holistic support in whatever way they need. Thank you for your continued support and enabling us to provide this invaluable service.
By Tracey Brand | Director
By Tracey Brand | Director
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
