Meet Little Miss Tessa…..
Tessa is our fun-loving, mischievous, adorable baby girl. She loves dancing to baby shark, munching on chocolate buttons, climbing up on her little armchair and driving her pink car. More than anything, Tessa loves to play with her three big siblings, Michael, Leo and Anna.
In December 2018, at 14 months old, Tessa was diagnosed with stage 4, high risk, Neuroblastoma, a cancer of the central nervous system, and, unfortunately, the most life-threatening form of cancer for children.
Our happy, healthy, precious little girl had developed a slight bulge in her left eye and when it persisted, we took her to the Emergency Department in Temple Street, expecting to be sent home with an antibiotic. Instead, our world was turned upside down.
The photo above was taken three days after Tessa’s diagnosis, on the 1st January 2019. She started chemotherapy the following week.
She is currently undergoing frontline treatment in Ireland, in Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, and the kindness and attention that she is receiving there is outstanding.
Tessa has a long battle ahead of her with several medical mountains to climb. In addition to chemotherapy, she will require surgery, stem cell transplantation, radiation therapy and immunotherapy, which if all goes to plan, she is expected to complete by May/June 2020.
Relapse is a huge concern with Neuroblastoma, occurring in half of cases, and, when it does occur, sadly, survival rates are very low. Therefore, after her initial treatment, it is vital that we do everything we can to reduce the chance that Tessa will relapse by having her take part in a clinical trial. Read more about that here
Participation in a cutting-edge clinical trial is, understandably, very expensive, but we are committed to giving Tessa that chance.
We are seeking to raise €375,000 by May 2020, and we hope to reach our first €140,000 by July 2019.
On behalf of Tessa and our whole family, we are asking you to please consider donating to help us to give Tessa the very best chance to BE Cancer FREE.
Your support is greatly appreciated and if you are able to share this campaign with your family, friends and colleagues we would be very grateful.
We look forward to keeping you up to date on Tessa’s progress over the coming weeks and months.
Mark G and Orla Waters
Tessa’s parents
