For Isla’s parents, Pam and Gareth, hearing their little girl had cancer, and would face years of treatment, filled them with dread.
“I just remember that feeling of now it starts, now we do what we need to get through,” said Pam.
It was an emotional experience for the whole family. For her brother, Connor, he lived with the worry of not knowing when, or if, his little sister would come home. Isla and Connor had always been best friends. Now, with Connor unable to visit his little sister in hospital because of COVID restrictions, they missed each other terribly.
And Gareth described, “that awful feeling inside of seeing your daughter in such pain and discomfort.”
By keeping Cancer Council’s services resourced and strong, you’re ensuring no one has to face this incredibly emotional time alone.
In 2023, over 19,000 calls were answered by our dedicated cancer nurses on 13 11 20, providing compassion, information, and support to help anyone feeling overwhelmed or stressed about a cancer diagnosis.
You’re also improving the outcomes, treatments, and level of care...
“If this was 20 years ago, Isla would have died,” said Pam. “The research that’s been done in that time means we could get through without having those thoughts.”
Now more children are surviving leukaemia, which is a phenomenal achievement. But, as Isla knows all too well, it’s a gruelling nine months of intensive therapy and a long journey to remission.
If this was 20 years ago, Isla would have died
But what if treatment was simpler, gentler on the body, and had fewer side effects? Your regular support is leading to a deeper understanding of how cancers behave and what they depend on to survive.
And with that knowledge, exciting new treatments emerge that can help other children with leukaemia. Like the work of Dr Omer Gilan, who is studying how a protein in ordinary cells can cause leukaemia to develop. By inhibiting the protein, they can not only stop leukaemia in its tracks, but also send the cells back to ordinary function. Essentially “hitting the brakes on leukaemia”.
Dr Gilan is one of around 230 researchers that you are funding each year as they work on ways to better detect, prevent, and treat cancer. By supporting ground-breaking research programs like this, we can look forward to many more lives saved in the years to come.
As a regular giver, you’re having the deepest impact to help cancer meet its end 😊 Thank you!