This year, I am dedicating my birthday (it's the 33rd - eek) to a charity that is very close to my heart: Daisy’s Eye Cancer Fund. Please consider donating on this page instead of buying me any presents (and of course also, if you wouldn't buy me anything anyway).
In autumn 2009 my daughter, Essa, was diagnosed with retinoblastoma when she was just under two months old. Retinoblastoma is a relatively rare cancer of the eye that almost exclusively affects babies and very young children but which has an extremely good survival rate - in fact, if the cancer is caught before it spreads beyond the eye, it has a survival rate of 100%, however, if left untreated it is an aggressive killer that develops pretty fast.
In Essa's case, the cancer was contained to the left eye, which, however, had to be removed to save her life. Ever since she has been cancer free and there is virtually no risk that her other eye will be affected. She also has a beautiful artificial eye now and people who don’t know can’t even tell that she has lost her left eye to cancer.
However, while our family was going through this whole experience of tests, diagnosis, then finally treatment and now still follow up appointments for many years to come, I was always thinking how lucky we were for living in a country with a pretty decent health care system that can take care of this condition so successfully (the survival rate for this particular cancer is about 96% in the UK). At the same time, I was thinking how different the experience would be for families in poorer countries that don't have easy access to good health care.
While doing some more research on the different situation between rich and poorer countries, the desire to do something to help became even stronger: while in countries like the UK well over 90% of children with retinoblastoma survive their cancer, the situation in poorer countries is pretty much exactly reversed - about 80-90% of affected children do not survive. Having had the experience of having a baby with cancer - but with a happy ending! - I cannot even start to imagine how families must feel when the cancer doesn't just take their baby's eye but their little lives as well.
So I found and started to get involved with Daisy's Eye Cancer Fund. This organisation does incredible work to improve access to treatment and care for children suffering from eye cancer all over the world. Currently they are, among other things, cooperating with a team of doctors and nurses in Kenya to develop a Model Retinoblastoma Strategy for that country, with the aim to adopt that model strategy in other countries in Africa and elsewhere.
I think you will agree with me that this is a very worthy cause to support and that it is a disgrace that children are killed (one every hour!) by a highly curable cancer because they do not have access to even the most essential care (life saving eye removal surgery is not even very expensive: just £100 are enough for the patient and parents to travel to the hospital, pay for the inpatient stay, the actual surgery and post-surgery examinations: one little life saved for 100 quid!).
It would mean a lot for me on my birthday if you could help to support Daisy’s Eye Cancer Fund and give children all over the world the gift of life.
More information about the charity of my choice at:www.daisyseyecancerfund.org
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
P.S. If you are on facebook, why don't you join the facebook 'cause' for Daisy's Fund or become a fan of the Fund's facebook page.
P.P.S. Something I think all parents and friends and relatives of parents with small children should know: A very easy way of recognising the cancer in a child’s eye is to take a flash photo of the child. If one eye shows the typical red eye effect while the other does not show this effect or shows a white glow instead, the child could be suffering from a number of eye conditions, including retinoblastoma, and should see a doctor as a matter of urgency. More detailed information about this simple test at www.daisyseyecancerfund.org/rb/eye/photography.html
Daisy Fund Save My Life!
by Abby White
Early last September
When I was not quite two years old,
My mummy told my daddy
She thought my eye was glowing gold.
My daddy thought it very odd -
He never saw it in the light,
But on my birthday in November
He saw it clearly shining white.
We went to see the doctor
Who said I’d be just fine.
Perhaps it was infected
This funny eye of mine.
He gave my mum some medicine
But the glow grew only bigger,
At New Year we saw the herbalist
He said “Wash the eye with vinegar”.
Mum screamed “No, we’ll find a way
To see an optomologist”.
They feared the cost, but love me so -
To save money, daily meals they missed.
We took a crowded clanking bus,
To the city far away.
Mummy had never been there
Before that Valentine day.
The doctor looked inside my eye.
He did lots of different tests.
When he said my eye had cancer,
My mummy simply wept.
She never thought that cancer
Could be growing in my eye.
She was frightened of the treatment
And terrified I’d die.
The doctor told my mummy
The only way to save my life
Would be to take my eye away -
The telling cut her like a knife.
My mum and dad were very scared.
They couldn’t give consent.
The imagined me with just one eye,
And all the things that meant.
People here don’t understand.
They think such children cursed.
My parents prayed for another way,
But they always put me first.
The doctor sent my mummy
To a special charity -
Daisy’s Eye Cancer Fund
Helps children just like me.
There my mum had time to talk
With folks who understand,
Who explain and answer questions.
They let her cry and held her hand.
They patiently supported her
Through her broken heart’s debate.
They encouraged her to trust
And let the doctor operate.
Time was running out for me -
If the cancer escaped my eye,
I’d need intensive costly chemo
And would more than likely die.
Daddy came to join us
On our second week in town.
I’ve never seen him cry before -
He looked so beaten down.
My mum and dad were so distraught
But together we were brave.
We went back to see the doctor,
And vital consent they gave.
At the hospital I had a nurse
Who helped chase my fears away.
Daisy Fund had trained her
In special “child life” play.
She let me play with the sleepy mask
And “took blood” from my cloth doll’s arm.
I blew bubbles when the needles hurt,
To help me stay very calm.
Two days later - March the 1st,
I had my operation.
The doctor took away my eye,
He said that was my salvation.
Now I have a “pink eye” -
It looks a little strange,
But soon I’ll get a painted eye
Which seems a fair exchange.
Daisy Fund set up a lab
Where clever doctors examined my eye
They found the cancer has not spread.
Now it’s tears of joy we cry.
When my parents first heard “cancer”
They thought all hope was gone,
But now they are ecstatic
Because the battle has been won.
Because of care from Daisy Fund -
Hope for mummy, daddy and me,
Because of your donations
I’m alive and cancer free!
