Arla’s Cancer Journey

Hi I’m Laura and I’m hoping to raise funds to help my sister and brother in law through a very difficult time after (my niece) their baby girl Arla was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer.

Mid December 2022 just after Arla turned 1 she was diagnosed with a rare eye cancer called retinoblastoma.

• 'retino' means from the retina

• 'blast' means cells in early development

• 'oma’ means a group of cells, or a tumour

Retinoblastoma affecting one eye is called unilateral retinoblastoma. Bilateral retinoblastoma is when both eyes are affected.

Arla has unilateral Retinoblastoma and due to the tumor she has lost sight in one eye. She has gone through 5 rounds of chemotherapy so far but still has a long journey ahead of her to beat this. Due to how rare her cancer is there is only two hospitals in the UK that deal with it - London and Birmingham. Meaning that for treatment they have to travel to and from Birmingham for 2 days at a time every 3-4 weeks and will have to do so for the next 2 years minimum. That’s either having to take flights or an 11 hour round trip in the car.

My sister is self employed and had recently opened her own salon before Arla’s diagnosis. Now due to Arla’s condition and treatment causing lots of hospital trips it’s very unpredictable when she is able to work. As she is self employed when she doesn’t work she has no income and living off of one wage in this cost of living crisis we’re in is very difficult so I’m asking anybody that can help to please donate if you can, every penny will be greatly appreciated and will help to keep their family and business afloat.

So like I said any help would be massively appreciated to get my sister and her family through this very difficult time in their lives. And anyone reading this please keep Arla in your prayers and help her through this fight.

Thank you