We are aware that there are many foundations set up in aid of assisting people with various illness and disease but our foundation is special to us as it was thought of and started by our 9yr old son Colby, who currently has his 3rd brain tumor. As with any tumor or cancer there is not much you can do but pray, hope and wait...
As a family we have stood by Colby and supported him through this ver
y long and hard road and it has by no means been easy. The emotion torment a parent suffers knowing that their child is ill and there is nothing they can physically do to take that hurt and pain away is devastating. Each day you look at your child and try to absorb every detail about them as you have no idea what the future holds and what memories you will need to hold on to. COLBY’S STORY
Colby’s journey started in November 2007 when he fell from a tree at pre-school. For 8 weeks specialists treated him for a concussion. On the 18th January 2008 I had no choice but to take our pediatrician, Dr J Egner at St Augustine’s hostage in his offices and plead for help. Colby at this stage was vomiting and collapsing up to 4 times a day and as a mother I knew something was wrong. Dr Egner authorized a CT scan on Saturday 19th and on Monday the 21st we received a call to say they had detected abnormalities. Dr Egner gave us all the details he could but referred us to the Neuro Surgeon in St Augustine’s, Dr G Fuller. Dr Fuller explained Colby’s pressing situation to us and advised that he would operate and remove the tumor on Wednesday 23rd January or unfortunately by Friday 25th January we may need to arrange a funeral as the tumor was a 5th of the size of Colby’s brain. What a daunting thought that we as parents now had to go home and explain to our (then) 6yr old son that “he was ill and the doctors needed to cut the bad piece of his brain out”. No parent should ever have to do this! Colby was prepared and taken to surgery at 7am on 23rd January. He was in theatre for just under 5 hours. Where he should have been hospitalized for 6 weeks, after just 13 days Colby walked out of St Augustine’s hospital. Unfortunately after nine months the MRI scan revealed that Colby had a 2nd brain tumor. We were referred to an Oncologist, Dr R Callaghan at Parklands hospital. Dr Callaghan suggested Stereotactic Radio Surgery which was scheduled for 21st October 2008. This surgery was a once off treatment where the success of the treatment could only be seen at up to 12 months post surgery. After numerous MRI scan and Colby’s tumor shrinking then growing, it was decided in December 2010 that the Neuro Surgeon, Dr Fuller would surgically remove the tumor on the 19th January 2011. Colby was prepared and taken to theatre at 7am on the 19th January. The surgery took just under 3 hours. Through will and determination, Colby walked out of St. Augustine’s hospital after 6 days. Unfortunately at the 6 week post surgery MRI scan a 3rd more aggressive tumor was detected. It was decided by Dr Fuller and Dr Callaghan that Colby would undergo Stereotactic Radio Surgery again. There are many more side effects that could occur with a second treatment of this nature from loss of sight to loss of motor skills. Colby is a very special, brave and strong willed child that has tried every day to live life to its fullest. He attends Penzance Senior Primary school and through pure determination after missing 4 weeks of school in the first term he has achieved between 80% and 95% for his subjects. He is truly an inspiration to everyone that meets him. Colby’s mind is not his only strong aspect but his heart is even stronger. After a discussion earlier this year where finances became an issue after our medical aid were deliberating whether they would pay for Colby’s treatment or not, Colby decided that he wanted to help other children who didn’t have the money for treatments. Colby’s powerful words “… so if they don’t have money they must just die” hit home and my husband and I decided we to could not stand by and do nothing knowing that there were other children out there that needed medical treatment but could not afford the proper care. OUR AIM
Our aim in 2011 is to fundraise to support children suffering with difficult illness. As with most medical situations the emotional trauma is bad enough not to have to worry about the financial limits medical aids put on you. We are thus trying to alleviate some stress that other families are experiencing by raising funds to cover their medical aid short falls. Our goal is to support a minimum of two children this year. We have had many offers to assist with fundraising which we are truly grateful for and with the support of these individuals Colby will achieve his goal for 2011.
