Celene's Cancer Fund

Hi.

My name is Sair and I am organising this fundraiser for the courageous Celene.

The Denholm-Atkins and Johnston familes lives were turned upside down this week when 16yr old Celene was diagnosed with Stage 4 Ewing's sarcoma. This is a fast growing and aggressive form of cancer, commonly found in children.

How long has Celene been sick? Other than an upset stomach 2 weeks ago, there were absolutely no signs that Celene was gravely ill. The cancers inside of her have been growing for as little as 3 months.

Celene is now receiving excellent care at the Oncology Ward of the John Hunter Children's Hospital in Newcastle, Australia. After days of testing, they were able to confirm that she has a large primary tumour, but that it has devastatingly, also spread to other parts of her body.

Celene will be in hospital for at least 3 months. She has started chemotherapy already and this first round will last 12 weeks.

Celene is surrounded by a loving and supportive family who are by her-side 24hrs a day. The family has organised a HQ out at "Nanny's House" and are organising a split day/night shift to ensure someone will always be there by her side. This is a huge undertaking and the family is going to need help to do this.

How can you help? We are extremely lucky in Australia to have publicly funded hospital care. All of Celene's medical costs are fully covered whilst she is an in-patient at JHCH. There are, as always, so many other out of pocket expenses for carers and families in crisis.

We have set a fundraising target of $15,000 AUD for Phase 1 of Celene's 1st period in hospital.

This money will go to cover:

Parking

Whilst JHCH has provided the family with some parking passes, it doesn't cover all of the family members and friends popping in and out everyday to bring much needed supplies and forgotten items. Parking costs $10 a day, over 12 weeks... that may be up to $840 of parking fees.

Fuel

There will be at least 4 adults driving to and from the hospital every day, as well driving Celene's little sister Kaylee to school and other additional trips. Fuel in Australia is very expensive. It's around $2.20 a litre at the moment. It costs around $100 to fill an average tank and the 4 family cars will each use one tank a week with all this additional driving. $400 fuel over 12 weeks comes to a staggering $4,800 in fuel costs alone.

Food

Whilst the family is getting organised to try and send the carers off each day with a packed lunch and dinner, there isn't always time to do this. Grabbing a decent coffee, some hospital café food or meals on the way back home will be additional expenses for them all. Budgeting on $50 a day for the whole caring team for emergency food costs may add up to $4,200 over 12 weeks.

School Holiday Program

There are only 5 weeks left of the school year here in Australia. Our 6 week summer/Christmas school holidays are coming up quickly. Kaylee, 10 yrs old, normally spends the holidays with her grandparents, but that won't be possible these holidays as Celene's Nan will be "holding down the fort" every week day whilst other family members try to keep working part-time to pay the normal everyday expenses. It's also vital that Kaylee's needs are looked after too and that she is well cared for, engaged and has something to help keep her focused once school has finished. School holiday programs can cost up to $100 a day here. $500 a week for 6 weeks of holiday care could cost around $3,000.

Those 4 expenses alone add up to $12,840 AUD.

As mentioned above, Celene's Dad (Matt), Mum (Casey) and Aunt (Emma) will all be working reduced hours to help provide round the clock care for Celene. If they don't work, they don't get paid. So every $30 that we also raise can help them take an hour off of work to be by Celene's side, where she needs them.

Please donate, every dollar counts.

Thank you for your love and support.

Denholm-Atkins and Johnston families

Newcastle, NSW, Australia