Family Mark Pediatric Brain Tumor Awareness Day

In May 2017, a 4.5 cm tumor was found in Georgia.

Since then, the 5-year-old patient is currently undergoing multiple surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.

But she keeps doing it on her stride to live her best life.

Georgia-explained that her mom is the successor and leader-finished her latest treatment in December 2019.

But there is no cure.

“Thankfully, we have some degree of stability and hope that it will give us more time,” Mrs. Brown said.

“That’s the hard part of ependymoma. I don’t know how long we’ve been enjoying it. Unfortunately, this is a difficult game, but it works as well as possible.

“She is really sociable and loves to play with her friends and sisters. She is very elastic and happy because she met after the diagnosis and found that she met many people.

“Thankfully, this cancer’s effect on her hasn’t had a psychological effect on her. It may be physical, but she can’t beat it and make everything successful. . “

Mr Brown described his daughter as amazing, elastic and supportive.

“She is a kid who is stabbed, investigated, and not complaining,” he said.

Looking back on the day of his first diagnosis, Brown said he clearly remembers what the doctor looked like when he was informed of the news.

“The last time I met Georgia, she was reading her Dr. Seuss’s book before she was put down, and she was in great pain. She was awake until the next day. I didn’t see it. I investigated her entire head and it was really hard to deal with, “she said.

“The fact that we couldn’t talk to her before she went to surgery, I didn’t know how she came out of it, or the ability, and the switch flicked the moment the surgeon told us. It was like mass and our lives have changed completely forever. “

Georgia’s parents said they were both 36 years old and her sisters Rosie and Whitney were accustomed to seeing their sisters in and out of the hospital.

Mrs. Brown said the experience made her family stronger than ever, despite the current struggle.

“We remembered how wonderful we were and were always a very close family, but Georgia’s cancer doesn’t affect our entire life,” she said.

“It made us more open to accepting family opportunities and experiencing life a little less than we do, because we don’t know if time is on our side.

Mr Brown said he did not allow cancer in Georgia to be restricted.

“Over the last three years, there have been many highs and lows on this journey. From the initial diagnosis, the period of relative health, recurrence, and where we are now,” he said.

“We have always turned our backs on each other, and when one of us is low, it is an incredible process for us to help each other and experience it, which is ours. I strengthened the bond. “

Celebrating Pediatric Brain Cancer Awareness Day on Saturday, Mrs. Brown said she wanted to raise awareness to secure more funding for pediatric brain cancer research and resources.

The federal government launched Annual Awareness Day in 2019.

Pediatric brain tumors are the second most common cancer among Australian children, with approximately 100 patients aged 0 to 14 being diagnosed each year.

It is estimated that more than 30 children will die of the disease in 2020.

Every year in 2020, Pediatric Brain Cancer Awareness Day focuses on one strain of the disease, and in 2020, ependymoma, a tumor that develops from tissues of the central nervous system.

Cancer is more common in children and is more likely to occur intracranial than adults in the spine.

Doug Cunningham, chair of the Kids Cancer Project Board, has caused his urge to lose his five-year-old son Murray to illness and give back to others who are experiencing what he and his family have experienced. It was.

Murray was diagnosed at the age of four.

He tolerated surgery, cranial radiation therapy, and subsequent treatment, but was cancer-free for several months before recurrence.

He passed away in June 2016.

“He was a very positive kid. He was sporty and happy,” Cunningham said.

“We are dedicated to raising awareness about ependymoma and all childhood cancers, because the more we do it, the more people will understand that scientific research will find solutions. . “

Cunningham says finding the right balance between giving enough treatment to remove ependymoma without damaging healthy cells and causing unnecessary side effects is in the treatment of tumors in children. He said it was one of the most difficult challenges.

“Medical research is a long-term effort, but it holds the key to the effective treatment of ependymoma and other childhood cancers, which means that pain is minimized and 100% survival is possible.” He said.

That is what the Brown family agrees with.

Liz Doze founded the Robert Connor Doze Foundation to commemorate his 18-year-old son, who died of the disease seven years ago.

Ms. Doze said the Foundation had a special interest in funding ependymoma research.

“His spirit is alive and inspires us to work hard to change the odds of other young people,” she said.

The federal government has pledged $ 5 million in clinical trials for pediatric brain cancer from 2019 to 2024 as part of an effort to double the 10-year survival rate and improve the quality of life for brain cancer patients. Did.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said he was pleased to see Australian charities and other organizations working together to affect childhood brain tumors.

“Our government has invested in turning these statistics around Cancer Australia, and has included organizations such as the Kids Cancer Project and the Robert Connordose Foundation in Pediatric Brain Tumor Groups, People Affected by Pediatric Brain Cancer, We empower NGOs and researchers to work with them to ensure better results for their children, “he said.

The Kids Cancer Project will fund scientific research that will help improve the treatment of childhood cancer and ultimately find a cure.

To donate www.thekidscancerproject.org.au..