This crowdfunding page has been created to put a smile back on my daughter Rhiannon (aged 14) face after everything she has been through.

On Saturday 11th January 2020, our world was thrown into chaos. Rhiannon was complaining of some blurred vision so we decided to take her for a routine opticians appointment along with her 2 younger siblings (Ashton aged 10, Chloe aged 9), at first everything was going well Ashton was told he no longer needed glasses and Chloe eyes were perfectly fine. Everything started when Rhiannon went into her eye appointment, Rhiannon went into her appoint happily but withing a few minuted we were told that Rhiannon needs to be taken to the local emergency department ASAP as there was swelling on her optic nerves. We quickly got out of the opticians and headed straight home to gather some overnight things just in case, our neighbour was happy to look after Rhiannon's younger siblings for us whilst we got her to the hospital. We got Rhiannon down to the hospital as fast as we possibly could where she was taken to the child part of the emergency department. After a couple of hours of talking over what had brought us to the hospital and some basic tests done it was decided that a CT scan would be needed on her head to check for anything that could be causing pressure around her brain or optic nerves.

We were taken down to the CT room and was told after the scan it could take between 1 and 2 hours to get the results back, but by the time we had got back to the ward (about a 5 minute walk) the doctor looking after Rhiannon was already waiting for us with the results. We were taken into a private room to talk which is when we were given the news no parent ever wants to hear. With tearful eyes the doctor told us our little girl has .. a brain tumour, instantly our world fell apart around us Rhiannon tried her best to hold back the tears, Rhiannon's mum (Joanne) fell to pieces and i was just in a state of shock and disbelief.

The doctors and nurses in the room with us did all they could to help support us and straight away started getting plans in place. Once we had started to compose ourselves we then had the heartbreaking job of calling our family and relatives who were waiting by their phones for any news and break this horrible information to them. Understandably there was a lot of tears over the phones, But all the family instant started gathering together to help and support us any way they could whether it was getting to us as fast as they could to support us or getting Rhiannon's brother and sister to their house for them to be looked after for a longer term or sending financial support to get anything we needed whilst we were at the hospital.

After all the calls and short term plans had be done it was time to discuss with the doctors how we were going to deal with this situation. After some time talking to Rhiannon, mum and me making sure we understood what this was and what was happening, we were told that we would be kept at the local hospital overnight and then transferred to Alder hey children's hospital where they would be more equipped to test and deal with the tumour.

The next day came and the ambulance arrived to transfer Rhiannon to Alder hey, Upon arrival we were taken into the hospital where they setup a room for Rhiannon within minutes. Rhiannon was greeted on the ward by some lovely nurses and doctors who did everything they could to make her comfortable, we were then told that today would be a rest day for Rhiannon and that they would start with an MRI scan the next day to see better what they were dealing with. The next day came and it was time for the MRI scan we were all extremely nervous as to what to expect next, The scan took around 1 hour 30 minutes but felt like a lifetime, the MRI was done and we were taken back to Rhiannon's room to wait for the results.

An hour passed and we were getting more and more anxious and then the door to Rhiannon's room opened and in walked someone we had never met. He introduced himself and asked Rhiannon if she would like to see her scans (which she agreed to see) Which is when we saw the tumour, the gentleman explained that he was a surgeon who specialised in these sorts of procedures. He explained to us the tumour was resting on the optics part of the brain and that it was 4 cm wide and 4 cm long, He then explained how there was a 20% chance of Rhiannon losing her peripheral vision after the surgery which would mean she could never drive when shes older.

Surgery was set for Thursday 16th January 2020, 3 days passed and the day of surgery had arrived, We woke Rhiannon at 7 am to prepare her for surgery and she was taken down at 8:45 am and the agonising wait for our little girl to be brought back to us began. Jo was in pieces understandably, every second felt like hours.

3 pm came along and we finally got the call, Rhiannon was ready to come back to the ward, after 30 minutes of waiting around Jo was taken down to she Rhiannon and bring her back up. she was brought back to the ward with cannulas in each arm and leg and one in her neck she also had pressure tubes on her legs and was left with a catheter in, seeing her in that sight was a devastating blow. The surgeon came to us to discuss the operation and what was next, he explain surgery went really well and the whole tumour was removed, her then explained the results would be back around Tuesday 21st January 2020. Rhiannon made great strides in her recovery. Within 1 hour of being brought on the ward she was drinking water, by 12:30 am she was eating. The next day they removed most of her cannulas except the ones in her legs and removed her catheter. We then saw her take her first steps since surgery which brought a huge sense of pride and relief to us. 2 days later they cleaned Rhiannon's wound.

Rhiannon continued to make great progress over the weekend getting stronger and stronger each day. Monday came and we were told Rhiannon was being discharged from the hospital and that we would be brought back on Thursday 23rd January 2020 to have a meeting to get the test results and find out if the tumour was cancerous or not. which is where we are up to now.

Rhiannon works extremely hard in school which was noticed by the teachers and they nominated her to go on a trip to Disneyland Paris as a reward for all her hard work but unfortunately due to Rhiannon's condition she is unable to go which has really upset her. The money was refunded to us, we offered his money to Rhiannon to treat herself to something nice, at first Rhiannon refused the money saying that we should use it to pay for what we needed whilst at the hospital. After a lot of back and forth Rhiannon took the money and bought herself a Nintendo switch.

^^This is her after getting her switch.^^

^^This is where the surgery was done on the back of her head.^^

^^This was taken the night before surgery.^^

The reason we have started this crowd funding is to raise money to wish her a well done for everything she has been through by getting her things she needs and has always wanted (for example a gaming bedroom), were also trying to raise money to kickstart her hobby and possible future career as a gaming content creator/artist and possibly esports player.

I would like to thank everyone who visits the page and anyone who does donate, you are all beautiful people and we will update the page with any new information including results as time goes on.

UPDATE!!

Hey everyone, i know it has been a very long time since this page was updated and has lost abit of steam. Firstly to everyone who donated and shared this page to get the word out about this wonderful girl, we THANK YOU! The support has been unreal :), Rhiannon was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer known as an rela positive ependymoma which is a more aggressive form of the ependymoma (brain) cancer, she has been making huge strides since the last update on the page. Rhiannon has completed her course of proton beam therapy thanks to the amazing staff at the Christies, UK hospital. They were kind enough to finance a beautiful hotel and make her as comfortable as possible through her entire treatment. She has also just completed a course of intensive chemo therapy at alder hey children's hospital who went above and beyond to get her through this rough time and keep her as happy as possible.

Just before her chemo therapy Rhiannon opted-in to freeze one of her ovaries as the chemotherapy she received can cause infertility, so she decided for future preservation she would freeze an ovary for if she ever decided to have children.

during lockdown and Rhiannon's chemo treatment we managed to get moved into a more suitable home which is safer for Rhiannon. We are in the very long process of decorating but is coming along nicely.

As mentioned earlier Rhiannon has completed her rounds of proton beam and chemotherapy. These treatments have caused dramatic changes in her appearance which has affected her physically, mentally and emotionally. To say the least her confidence has been shot (mainly due to the total hair loss from treatment) but that has not stopped her fighting spirit, though she has completed her treatment she is not completely out of the woods yet she still has a long period of regular scans on her brain, sight hearing and kidney function tests and oncology appointments of which all of this is expected to last for at least the next 5 years as this form of cancer has a very high percentage of returning and posses a bigger risk to life in its second return( we have been advised the 1st occurrence has a 50/50 survival rate, we do not know the % for second occurrence, but it is less ) . so far her after treatment scans and test have been all clear but were still a long way off from the end.

so please please please help us make this brave girl the happiest in the world. thank you.