Tilly's Journey. Childhood Cancer

Hi my name is Michelle. Mum to Tilly.

Tilly is 19 months old and at just 3 months old Tilly was diagnosed with a cancer called Neuroblastoma. It originated in her stomach and moved into her spine and kidneys. At just three months old Tilly had to have major surgery on her spine. And still we were not sure she would survive. The fear was unimaginable and words would never describe how her dad and I and all her family felt during these nightmarish times. After her surgery Tilly needed numerous rounds of chemotherapy to try to kill the neuroblastoma in her stomach. But the chemo wasnt enough. She had to have two more major suguries in order to remove the tumor in her stomach and kidneys. Because of this cancer and its aggressiveness, Tilly lost the use of her legs and her bladder. She can't walk and has to be catheterised numerous times a day.

At just three months old this little baby had to face a journey of pain, countless medications, chemo, surgery,long hospital stays away from home, weeks upon weeks of more hospital stays due to contracting illness as a result of her suppressed immune system as one of the many side effects of chemotherapy. And Tilly did all this at such a young age. And she was so brave. As her mum I was awed and surprised by just how tough my little woman was. I was afraid for her and for her future. What will happen to this little girl? How will she accept the fact that her legs no longer work when she gets older?

The wonderful team in temple street and crumlin here in ireland were able to remove 97% of the tumour but Tilly will have to be scanned regularly and there might be more surgeries down the line for our brave little warrior.

I'm trying to raise money for Tilly's future. A lot of expenses come with Tillys infirmities. The money we will hopefully raise will be spent on therapies to improve Tillys mobility. There are future surgeries for Tilly also and these surgeries can place a huge financial burden on us. The money raised will go towards the cost of all these therapies and surgeries in the hopes that maybe someday this gorgeous little girl will be able to live as normal a life as possible. We don't know what's coming down the line for our little lady. We live day by day.

Thank you for taking the time to read about Tilly and her courageous journey.