Baby Leo's Cancer Journey

Hi, my name is Belinda.

On Christmas Eve my beautiful 6 month old nephew, Leo, was diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Hepatoblastoma in the liver and lungs. This has been, and still is, an enormous shock to his parents Jennifer (my sister) & Marcos, as the only symptom Leo had before his diagnosis was his belly feeling a little harder than usual at times.

This cancer is extremely rare. Out of a million people, only 1-2 people will get it. It is thought to have grown rapidly when some embryonic cells didn't do what they usually do. Instead of dying off, they grew.

The Doctors at Queensland Children's Hospital believe Leo has a good chance of being cured, but it's going to be a very long road. Not only for Baby Leo, but also his parents & brother Kai. A long road to recovery & also beyond.

The first step is Chemotherapy, which he started 2 days ago. Chemo means he will be in hospital for 1-2 nights per week, possibly more, depending on how well he responds to treatment. When Chemo has made the tumours shrink, Leo will need surgery, possibly a liver transplant.

My sister & Marcos need to be with Leo during his treatment. Their family home, where Kai lives, is at least a 45 minute drive from the Children's Hospital. The new school year sees them facing unexpected costs as they try to keep life as normal as possible for Kai - Childcare costs as well as transport to ensure Kai can get to & from school when Leo is in hospital.

There will be ongoing high travel expenses (fuel, tolls, parking etc) for Leo's parents as they travel to the Hospital regularly to support Leo through this journey.

And ultimately, beautiful Leo needs our help. He's still a baby and although strong, he's not strong enough to fight this horrible disease on his own. He needs the best medicine possible, the best treatment possible, to help him not only fight this cancer but BEAT it.

This will see Jen & Marcos facing unimaginable medical costs. They will do whatever they can to pay these expenses & to help Leo, but I don't want to see them lose their home. Baby Leo needs his home to return to on that day he is finally cancer-free.

Hopefully this fundraiser will ease the enormous financial pressure for Jen & Marcos so they can instead focus their energies on their baby boy as he battles this cancer.

Even the smallest donation to 'Baby Leo's Journey with Cancer' will make a difference. This adorable boy doesn't deserve to go through this. Let's all help him beat this. Let's all ease the financial burden on Jen & Marcos as they, too, embark on this tough journey. Leo needs his parents. He doesn't need them constantly worrying or stressing about the rising medical expenses.

Please keep Leo in your thoughts, please pray for him, please ask for help from above, please send him lots of positive energy, lots of healing, lots of love - and to his family too.

Thank you for reading, & for any help you can give, no matter how small.

Belinda Hamilton