Friday, January 14, 2005

Today's fund raising total is $184,747.88 - Flights cancelled

Today’s fund raising total is $184,747.88
What an amazing result, and it’s all thanks to the generosity of kind hearted people. Thank you so much. Today we had phone call after phone call from people offering us help and putting us onto connections to raise money. We also had the photographer from New Idea magazine come over. Dylan was in the Herald Sun on page 13 and this can be viewed at the website: www.heraldsun.news.com.au for those who cannot access the paper or live overseas. I still have had no word on our application that was put forward to the Health minister and I eagerly await their response.

Dylan has had a good day, playing around and full of energy. People often assume that he is very weak and unwell, but in actual fact he is so full of life and able to behave almost the same as any other 6 year old boy. The only time he becomes unwell is when he has chemotherapy, and this takes 2-3 weeks for him to recover. His last chemotherapy was on 17th December, and he has had no treatment since then. Dylan cannot go swimming due to his hickman line (tube extending outside his body) and gastric peg (feeding tube). He is also restricted from certain activities such as riding a bike or skate board or anything else that has a high risk of injury. Because Dylan is so well at the moment, I am prepared to do what ever it takes to keep him alive. Currently he is fit enough to travel to the other side of the world and fit enough to handle surgery and the treatment available. This can all change very rapidly though, and that is why it is such an urgent appeal. Neuroblastoma is a very fast growing and aggressive cancer, and his condition can deteriorate at any given time.

The team of fund raisers that have volunteered their valuable time are making great progress in organizing “Dylan’s Fun Day Out” Charity Fete. A huge thank you to you all, as I know just how hard you are all working, and how much time you are all putting in.

As much as this is an uphill battle for us, it is comforting to know that we are creating publicity awareness about Neuroblastoma. Hopefully this will generate more funding on Neuroblastoma research in Australia, and in turn will benefit all children suffering from this awful cancer.