Family Health
Childhood Cancer Support What would you do if your child was diagnosed with cancer? We talk to two families who have been though the unimaginable…
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s parents, our biggest fear is that our children will become seriously ill. Sadly, for too many families this is a reality, and for those who live in regional & rural areas of Queensland, the added burden of having to relocate to Brisbane and find accommodation while their child has treatment can be overwhelming. Imagine leaving your home, your partner and other children, your job, your friends and support network, not knowing where you are going to live, or how long you are going to be away for. Sometimes you’ve left home so quickly, so urgently, that all you have are the clothes you got on that flight in. This is the reality for many regional & rural families with sick children who require treatment in Brisbane. Childhood Cancer Support is a not for profit organisation, based in Herston that has been providing medium to long term, oncology specific accommodation to families affected by childhood cancer since 1975. Currently, Childhood Cancer Support has 12 selfcontained apartments in Herston, which welcomes all children & their families, with all cancer types, at no cost whatsoever. Childhood Cancer Support provides a home away from home for the whole family, a place where they can all be together, during a very challenging time.
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Tracey and Lucy
Tracey Rethamel from Townsville, whose 8 year old daughter Lucy was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in February 2014 knows exactly what this feels like. On the 13th February 2014, our youngest daughter Lucy was diagnosed with A.L.L (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia). Within 24 hours, we found ourselves in Brisbane, some 1,350kms away from home in Townsville (Northern QLD). Our world collapsed.
Your Local Families Magazine – Brisbane Issue 9 - April/May 2015
Our two eldest daughters remained in Townsville. At the time, we had no idea of what lay ahead for us, let alone where we were going to stay whilst in Brisbane. All that mattered at that desperate time was that we were by Lucy’s side. Thankfully, we had grandparents that were able to relocate to Townsville to care for our elder daughters. We will be forever grateful when in the following days we were made aware of the support services that Childhood Cancer Support provided families like ours. We were fortunate enough to be offered a unit within weeks. Our two bedroom unit (TDH4) soon became our 2nd home over the course of the next 9 months. We decorated it with Lucy’s artwork, filled it with special family photos and grew in love with everything about it. It became our sanctuary; our safe haven when Lucy’s neutrophils were low and where we could escape the turmoil of chemotherapy.