Making memories for Isla

At the beginning of February  our beautiful little girl Isla was diagnosed with a brain tumour. 

At first I noticed Isla had a slight lazy eye so had booked her into see the opticians for an eye test. However before her appointment Isla began to lose movement down one side of her body. I immediately took her to A&E, where they carried out lots of tests to find out the cause. Isla had a CT scan and I was told there were no tumours & she would be transferred to London for an MRI.

After having the MRI we were given the  devastating news that Isla had a brain tumour that hadn’t been picked up on the CT scan. 

We were then told that this type of tumour cannot be cured & that she could be given radiotherapy to prolong her life, however she has a life expectancy of just 12 months. As you can imagine our world completely fell apart, no parent should have to hear that. 

The tumour is known as DIPG & is located in the brain stem (the middle part of the brain) meaning that it cannot be operated on. 

Isla was then given 13 sessions of radiotherapy at the Royal Marsden & we were then told to go home & make memories as there is nothing else they can do.

After lots of research we found a trial drug in Germany called ONC201 which Isla has started, however this is costing almost £2500 per month & is also taking THC oil at an additional cost each month. 

DIPG effects the bodies main functions, such as the ability to walk, talk, breath and eye sight. 

Isla recently had an MRI to see the effect the radiotherapy has had on the tumour & we were so relieved that it has slightly shrunk. However we know this is most likely to be temporary.

Right now our main priority is to give Isla the happiest & best experiences we possibly can whilst she is still well enough. 

We hope to take Isla on as many little breaks away & days out as possible. 

We would be incredibly grateful for any donation, no matter how small.