In 2012, at just three-years-old, Macy was diagnosed with a slow-growing brain tumour known as optic pathway glioma. After initial surgeries to reduce the size of her tumours, doctors considered the risk to Macy’s mobility and vision too high to continue surgery, instead turning to prolonged chemotherapy as the only option. Macy’s mum, Suzannah says:
“When she was diagnosed, the doctors told me it was going to be a long road. I thought I understood, but I had no idea how long.”
For Suzannah, Macy and their entire family, the situation was made worse by the fact that the new drug Macy would rely on to remain stable over the next decade wasn’t available at their home in Hobart – or anywhere in Tasmania. Their new normal quickly became at least monthly trips to Melbourne for her lifesaving treatment.
“We were travelling interstate monthly, but often we’d do two or three trips in a month. Sometimes it was for two or three nights, but it was also up to a week at a time.
“The tumours kept increasing in size, so we had no choice. Getting on and off planes is exhausting at the best of times, but with a sick child it’s just horrible. Plus, every time we left, I felt guilty about leaving my other daughter Matilda behind with friends and family. It was awful.”
After enduring lengthy and expensive interstate trips for five years, everything changed for Macy and her family thanks to donations from generous people like you. In 2017, having recognised the need for access to better childhood cancer treatments in Tasmania, The Kids’ Cancer Project funded the pening of a brand new Children’s and Adolescent Cancer Clinical Trials Unit at the Royal Hobart Hospital.