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Welcome to Katelyn Benson's website! This has been created to keep family and friends up to date with the latest news regarding our brave daughter.

At the age of three, Katelyn was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma Stage 4, a rare childhood cancer for which there is no cure. She was diagnosed on Monday 16th May 2005 and since then has undergone 8 rounds of chemotherapy, a 5 hour tumour resection surgery, further high-dose chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant, radiotherapy and 6 rounds of Accutane (Retinoic Acid). In September 2006, we discovered that Katie had relapsed and so the battle begins again.

Despite the devastating prognosis, we have great faith that our precious daughter will be granted her miracle cure. Thank you for joining us on our rollercoaster journey. Words cannot express the uplifting joy we feel to know we have such a wonderful "team" standing behind us every step of the way. We thank each and every one of you for the endless love, support and prayers.

We are praying for a miracle!!

Children with cancer are like candles in the wind who accept the possibility that they are in danger of being extinguished by a gust of wind from nowhere; and yet, as they flicker and dance to remain alive, their brilliance challenges the darkness and dazzle those of us who watch their light.

Friday, October 06, 2006

The Royal Princess

I would like to say a huge thank you to Charly who took time out her busy day to give "Princess" Katie a manicure and pedicure, she loved it!! After inpsecting her beautiful nails, she decided a dress-up session was in order and spent a good hour rooting through Mummy's wardrobe! She is now sitting patiently waiting for The X-Factor to start wearing my 6 inch (hehe!) black stilettos and my (very expensive!) pink cashmere shawl. Very glamourous indeed :-)

It's good to see Katie feeling a bit like her normal self. She's still in considerable pain and is terribly pale but has most definitley turned a corner. There were moments earlier this week when I wondered if we were doing the right thing by choosing such an agressive treatment option. But Katie is a tough girl and she's fighting through.

We are sitting and waiting for her blood counts to recover over the next few weeks in order to start a second round of TVD. I will update later in the week.