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In Feb 2009 Vanessa, was diagnosed with Stage 4 (High-Risk) Neuroblastoma, a very rare, aggressive and difficult to treat form of childhood cancer. Fewer than 100 children in the UK are diagnosed with neuroblastoma each year, most of which are below the age of 5 and generally have a better prognosis as the older the child is the worse the prognosis is.

Since Feb 09, Vanessa has undergone many different treatments at Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow, these include; 12 rounds of High Dose Chemotherapy, two 7 hour surgical operations, the removal of one of her kidneys, a stem cell transplant, Radiotherapy, Retinoic Acid treatment and Immunotherapy treatment. A unbelievable amount for one person to have to deal with let alone a young child!

However, after all this treatment and hope that this had ended in Dec 2011 after routine scans, the family and Vanessa were given the devastating news that Vanessa had relapsed. She has many hotspots on the skull, neck, spine, leg & knees. The UK doctors have told us that this time round there is very little chance of survival; “much less than 10%” they said, as we do not have any relapse protocols in the UK. This is due to the Government not investing any money into relapse treatments for this disease. This is a very different story to the United States where there are many relapse protocols and taking her there will dramatically increase her chances of long term survival..And thats the plan

We are all students at James Watt College and were touched by her story and some of us know the family personally. We want to help and so we are going to take part in a Spin Marathon. It is our intention cycle on Gym Spin bikes for the duration of a college day. We would be really grateful for your help!

 

So please dig deep every little helps!