A FAMILY has issued a heartfelt plea for help to fund a "last chance" treatment to save their two-year-old daughter, who is battling a rare tumour "tangled" in her body.

Carolyn and Rodney Jackson are desperate to raise a quarter of a million pounds to fly their little girl to New York for "life-saving" surgery.

They said it's their last attempt after doctors in the UK said it was too dangerous to remove the tumour.

Little Florence Jackson has spent most of her short life in hospital fighting stage four neuroblastoma.

The brave toddler has endured 20 rounds of chemotherapy, major surgery and five weeks of radiotherapy.

Initially, it looked like the toddler was getting better, but the remaining tumour left behind after the op has grown.

Adn, last week her parents were told it was too dangerous to remove it because it is tangled in her blood vessels.

Determined to fight for their little girl, Carolyn and Rodney have found a doctor in New York who has performed similar operations on tumours in children.

They are in a race against time to raise £250,000 to fund the operation and have already raised more than £35,000 in donations in two days.

Mum-of-two Carolyn, 47, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, said: "We owe it Florence to fight on, just as she is bravely doing – but we have to act fast.

"Her tiny body has bravely coped with 20 rounds of chemotherapy, major surgery, a stem cell transplant and five weeks of radiotherapy.

"This was all topped off with immunotherapy treatment, which was meant to complete her treatment.

"Sadly, our hopes that Florence could soon start enjoying a life free of cancer were cruelly dashed in November 2016.

Time is not on our side. If people can spare any amount, no matter how small, it will dramatically improve Florence's chances of living to see her third, and many more birthdays.

"A routine CT scan showed that the tumour was growing again, despite everything that had been thrown at it.

"And a recent follow-up scan in January 2017 has shown that the tumour has spread into her stomach and has wrapped around her blood vessels.

"As a result, the doctors have told us the tumour is too dangerous to remove and there's nothing more they can do. But we can. And we will.

"We have found this doctor and he is the best surgeon in the world at this kind of operation.

"If he can't remove it then Florence won't be with us. We need to do something very quickly."

Florence started to become unwell in 2015 when her mum noticed she wasn't eating as much and had a rounded tummy, but medics initially diagnosed her with constipation she claimed.

In November 2015 Carolyn, who was an IT consultant before Florence was diagnosed, took her to A&E with a "rock hard" stomach.

WHAT IS NEUROBLASTOMA?

Neuroblastoma is a rate type of cancer that is mostly likely to affect babies and young kids.
The disease develops from specialised nerve cells – called neuroblasts.
These are left behind after a baby develops in the womb.
Neuroblastoma will typically first be detected in one of the adrenal glands, which sit above the kidneys.
Or, it can be diagnosed in the nerve tissue that runs along the spinal cord in the neck, chest, tummy or pelvis.
The disease can spread, most commonly invading organs including the bone marrow, bone, lymph nodes, liver and skin.
Around 100 kids a year are diagnosed in the UK, according to the NHS.
It's most common in those under the age of five.
Scientists do not know what causes the disease, but in very rare cases siblings can be affected.
As a general rule the disease doesn't run in families.

What are the symptoms?
Signs of the disease depend on where it starts in the body.
The early symptoms can be vague and hard to spot. and can easily be mistaken for other, more common, childhood conditions.
The signs include:
– a swollen, painful tummy
– breathlessness and difficulty swallowing
– a lump in the neck
– blueish lumps in the skin and bruising, often around the eyes
– weakness in the legs and an unsteady walk. with numbness, constipation and difficulty peeing
– fatigue, loss of energy, pale skin, loss of appetite and weight loss
– bone pain, a limp and general irritability
– rarely, jerky eye and muscle movements

Source: NHS Choices

A few weeks later she was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma aged just 16 months old, and a scan revealed a 11cm by 9cm tumour on her left adrenal gland.

Carolyn explained: "It's complicated because it's not like a lump – the tumour is like a tree.

"It is a tangle and it grows around her blood vessels and was around the main artery to her stomach, making it difficult to remove."

She had 12 rounds of chemo and it dramatically shrunk before an operation in March 2016 removed 80 per cent of the mass.

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But the rest was left behind and she had five weeks of radiotherapy and months of high dose chemo before she was allowed to go home.

Carolyn added: "She was amazing. We had an amazing summer of running around the garden and playing.

"Apart from the tube in her nose and no hair, she didn't look ill at all.

"But it all changed in October last year."

A scan in November revealed the tumour had grown again and last month the family were told it had spread into her stomach, was wrapped around her blood vessels, and was too dangerous to remove.

The family claim world-class surgeon, Dr Michael. P. La Quaglia in New York, has been able to operate in similar situations in the past.

Their UK doctors are now putting together her results so the family can send it to him, Carolyn said.

Medics estimate the operation would cost £220,000 – with more needed for accommodation.

Florence is currently at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, Surrey.

But Carolyn doesn't know when how long they have to get their little girl to America.

She said: "She's due to start more chemo on Saturday, Sunday and Monday and we'll know more after that when she has another scan.

"We asked the consultant and they said we were talking about months rather than anything else.

"Time is not on our side. If people can spare any amount, no matter how small, it will dramatically improve Florence's chances of living to see her third, and many more birthdays."

To donate to the family visit their Just Giving page.

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