.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

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.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Tired tired tired

The first round of TVD chemo is done and dusted. Now we sit and pray Katie's blood counts will remain good enough to not cause a delay with the second round. Katie had a tough weekend hooked up for over 48 hours. She's been in a lot of pain in her abdomen where the cancer is situated. Also, she's been complaining of pain in her legs and hips. It's scary, really scary. They started her on slow-release morphine which helped ease the pain and allowed her to sleep well. We are still in the hospital trying to get her pain under control.

We've been feeling a bit sad and miserable lately. The harsh reality of the situation is kicking in and we are all feeling it. Please keep praying for our strength during these difficult days. Thank you!!

Posted by Nicole on Wednesday, October 04, 2006