8:30am Saturday 28th January 2012
By Kate Liptrot
THE mother of a little girl who has travelled to New York for specialist cancer treatment has told of the “heartbreaking” experience of learning her daughter had suffered another setback.
Three-year-old Sadie Rose Clifford, of Knaresborough, was taken to New York earlier this month after a fundraising appeal collected just under £500,000 for pioneering treatment for the aggressive cancer neuroblastoma.
But doctors have discovered further tumours in her liver and chest cavity and the treatment has been delayed while Sadie undergoes urgent chemotherapy – at an additional cost of £186,000 – to try and stop the spread of the cancer.
Sadie’s parents, Katie and Darren, are staying with their daughter in New York while she undergoes chemotherapy before hopefully being given the go-ahead to have immunotherapy treatment using pioneering drugs which place her chance of survival at 80 per cent.
Without the treatment at the Sloan Kettering Hospital her parents have been told she has no chance of long-term survival.
Mrs Clifford said: “We were in total shock and disbelief when we found out Sadie would need chemotherapy.
“We had become aware a few days prior to the meeting with Dr Kramer that Sadie had become a lot more tired than usual.
“Her appetite had once again become non-existent and we thought it was probably her way of coping with a totally different way of life.
“As you can imagine it was the worst possible news, not only to find out that she had developed new tumours but that they had grown in one of the most major organs in the body – the liver. All we did was cry, cry and cry some more. It was heartbreaking.”
Mrs Clifford said although the chemotherapy was taking its toll on Sadie, she seemed to be coping well and they were trying to stay strong for her.
She said: “Sadie is coping as best she can. She has been spiking some quite high temperatures over the last few days. We are hoping that this is the effect of the chemo doing its job.
“Daz and I are keeping brave faces for Sadie. As long as she sees mummy and daddy strong, then hopefully that will be enough to take her through each day.”
For more information, or to donate money and fund raise to help cover the additional cost of the chemotherapy, visit sadierosecliffordappeal.co.uk or send an email to Sadie’s grandfather Graham Gotts, cragrat4@hotmail.com
© Copyright 2001-2013 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/trade_directory/