Toddler needs life-saving cancer treatment
Britney Francis has been on the edge since last December, when her world turned upside down after she was informed that her three-year-old daughter has Stage-Four neuroblastoma, a rare type of childhood cancer.
The devastated 21-year-old mother of two is now seeking the public’s help to raise funds to secure treatment overseas for her daughter, Caterina Palmer, to save her life.
Neuroblastoma is a form of cancer in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the body’s immature nerve tissue in the adrenal glands, neck, chest, or spinal cord. It has symptoms that may include pain, a lump in the abdomen, neck, chest, or a painless, bluish lump under the skin.
Francis and her partner received the heartbreaking news three months after they had taken their daughter to the Bustamante Hospital for Children for an unrelated complaint. Young Caterina, she said, was taken to the hospital after an accident at home in which she was burnt by hot oil on one of her hands.
“They found a swelling on the right side of her belly and she was admitted for, like, one month before they did a biopsy to find out if the tumour was cancerous. And she get back the results in December, and they said it was a neuroblastoma cancer,” Francis recalled.
The unemployed mother said her daughter started chemotherapy in December to shrink the tumour after doing surgery. But that intervention has been unsuccessful.
“They said because the tumour is growing, they can’t adjust the chemo to give her any stronger dosage or anything like that,” Francis stated.
Francis said she was told by the doctors that they would have to perform a CT scan of the tumour, and that Caterina would have to go overseas for surgery.
Periodic abdominal pains
According to the mother, her daughter, who has periodic abdominal pains, has to visit the hospital every three days for an injection to boost her compromised immune system.
Caterina’s weak immune system has so far caused her to miss two chemo treatments, which she is scheduled to get every 21 days.
“It is difficult for me, as I have to be up and down every day and I am not working. It’s just me and my babyfather and he doesn’t have a big job, and I am not from a rich family, I don’t really have it.
“So I would really like the help to save my daughter’s life,” said Francis, who is appealing to Jamaicans for financial assistance.
The mother, who has not been coping well, said she will not be able to find any comfort until her child is doing better.
“This cancer is breaking me down, because I can’t get used to it until I know she is feeling better. I can’t sleep, I hardly can eat, it is breaking me down very bad,” she said, noting that the child’s father was equally stressed.
Francis said she had contacted doctors from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and was advised that her daughter’s treatment would cost approximately US$1. 6 million, or about J$235 million.
Persons wishing to assist can reach Britney Francis at 876-410-1515 or make a donation at Jamaica National Bank to account number 209 4535 180.
Source: The Gleaner By Tanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
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