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Jasmine donates her hair

By Jasmine Winstanley Join Me

Help me reach my goal of $1,000

I'm raising money to help relieve the financial burden from families that have a child being treated for a cancer diagnosis.

I am cutting my hair to fundraise to support the creation of bespoke wigs for children, provide essential financial assistance to families in need, and funding within paediatric oncology hospitals across the country, ensuring that every child facing cancer receives the care and support they deserve.

Please support me in my fundraising journey, together we can make today easier for kids with cancer and their families.

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$1,000

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My Updates

Diagnosis

Sunday 1st Nov
When Serafina was eight weeks old, we were at home on a Saturday night, and my fiance and Serafina's dad noticed that her pupils were two different sizes, as in one was bigger than the other. Because it was a Saturday night, we took her to urgent care. They said that she was too young to be seen at urgent care and to take her to the closest emergency department. So we did.

We took her to the emergency department, and after thorough checks, they came to the decision that they thought it was physiological. However, to be on the safe side, they referred us to ophthalmology.

We presented to ophthalmology the following Monday. A few tests were done, and the doctors also pointed out that one eyelid was slightly droopier than the other. This was very mild at the time. It is more noticeable now.

Because of that, they put some drops into her eyes. They did this test twice. I was there all day. Following the conclusion of the test, they sat me down and said that because her pupils did not react the same way to the drops, they were referring her for an MRI. They did not think that it was anything life-threatening, but the MRI was more on the caution side of things.

So, a month later, my partner and I took her to get her MRI. She was three months old. With a tag-team effort, we managed to get her to sleep, and she stayed asleep for the whole MRI.

We weren't supposed to be seen in clinic until the following week. However, after the MRI, I got a phone call from the ophthalmology resident asking if we could come down right now to discuss the results and that they had the top doctor there with them.

I looked at my partner and I said, "They've found something," because why else would we be going to discuss the results on the same day and to talk to the top doctor?

They sat us down and said that the condition in her eyes is called Horner's syndrome, but they'd found the cause. The cause was a lump in her chest, which was causing the Horner's syndrome. They said that because of the lump in her chest, they were referring us to oncology.

I broke down into tears because, obviously, hearing the word oncology with your three-month-old, or with a child of any age, is terrifying.

So, we went up to oncology later that afternoon after getting some blood tests and some urine tests. The oncologist advised that this was most likely something called neuroblastoma, which is a rare form of childhood cancer formed by random cell growth while the baby grows. It's nothing that anyone did. It's nothing that I did while I was pregnant. It's random and unlucky.

So, the next week, we had another MRI and some scans in nuclear imaging, and the week after that, we had a biopsy. All of these tests confirmed that it is neuroblastoma. However, there are no other lumps, which is very reassuring. There's just the one.

Due to it being in the chest, it's called neuroblastoma of the mediastinum. It's near a lot of vital structures, so they are not operating on it to begin with. Due to this, it is considered intermediate risk, and she requires chemotherapy.

They've said that age is on her side. We found this very, very early, and it is very treatable. 

So, she does need to have chemotherapy. She has had three rounds so far with great success and has three to go.

Of course, this is very, very terrifying, and I don't know why the universe chose us, but it did. This is the card we've been dealt, and we just have to get on with it.

Serafina is not going to remember any of this. We are going to be there with her every step of the way, and there will never be a day that goes by where she doesn't know how much we love her.


So, we've just got to get this behind us, get it all finished, hopefully by her first birthday, and this will be a story to tell her when she's all grown up.

We give her a happy life and keep it as normal as we can.

Having a child with cancer is not something you imagine in your wildest dreams. But, medicine these days is incredible.

The diagnoses has taken many tolls emotionally, mentally and financially as I am still off work on maternity leave. We are so grateful for the assistance provided to us so far by Kids With Cancer and we know many families will greatly benefit for their support.

Thank you to my Sponsors

$216.50

Antonio Meduri

$55.95

Anonymous

$45.30

Sienna Ward

$40

Courtney E

Proud of you!!

$23.81

Jasmine Winstanley