Hannah doesn't have a choice about being bald. We are all shaving our heads to support Hannah and all kids fighting cancer, but more importantly, to raise money to find cures and this is why...... On the 9th July 2012, Nigel and Gaylene took their four year old daughter, Hannah to see her pediatrician because she was having some balance issues, falling over, walking into things. Within 24hrs they were being airlifted to Miami Children's hospital with a copy of the CT scan that revealed a tumor on the cerebellum with hydrocephalus (fluid build up). Hannah had surgery on 12th July and was diagnosed with Anaplastic Medulloblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor. Since July 2012, Hannah has been based at MD Anderson in Houston, TX returning to her home in the Cayman Islands for less than 7 weeks in total since then. Hannah has completed 6 weeks of cranial spinal proton radiation with sedation and weekly chemo, followed by 5 rounds of triple drug chemotherapy every 28 days as an inpatient. During this period, she was admitted 5 times through ER with neutropenic fever and potentially life-threatening infections. She had numerous MRI scans, lumbar punctures, audiology tests, ophthalmology tests, blood transfusions, tests and clinic consultations with her oncologist. In early April 2013, Hannah's MRI showed the treatment was not working and the disease had progressed. She flew home for a few days and then on to fulfill her make-a-wish trip at Disney in Florida. They returned to MD Anderson mid-April to discuss options. Relapse Medulloblastoma has less than 5% chance of survival for 3-5 years. They don’t even look beyond that. They cannot possibly begin to explain how that feels as parents. There is no longer a standard protocol to follow and the doctors just do the best they can, in what amounts to little more than an educated guess. There are other children for whom the mere diagnosis of their type of cancer amounts to a death sentence, and others where relapse has no hope at all, not even 5%. Every day 7 children will die of cancer in the US at an average age of 8 and it is the leading cause of death by disease for children under 15, killing more than diabetes, aids, asthma, cystic fibrosis and congenital abnormalities combined. During this journey they discovered the shocking truth as to how little funding is allocated to pediatric cancer research. All of the drugs Hannah has been given were developed for adults, mostly over 25 years ago and most of them are not even approved for use in children. In terms of total life years lost, pediatric cancer is equivalent to breast cancer, yet receives a tiny fraction of cancer research funding. Kids can’t vote and are not celebrities. Their voice is not heard. They started a different chemotherapy regime for the relapse in April this year, chosen because a trial showed some positive results. They hope and pray that it will work because they are running out of options. Funding is desperately needed for new trials, new drugs and treatment options for all pediatric cancers. The long term effects and damage from all the chemotherapy and radiation is permanent, horrific and endless. Even if she beats cancer Hannah faces a lifetime of disabilities. We have to find a cure for Hannah and all the kids dying every day. We all have to do something. Nigel and Gaylene, Hannah's parents together with Neil, Hannah's Uncle and Gayle, a family friend who has children the same age, are all going to shave our heads in September for St Baldrick's. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is the largest private funder (non-government) of childhood cancer research grants. Please support us by donating money to St Baldrick's in Hannah's honor to help raise funds specifically for pediatric cancer. Together we can make a difference. All these cancer kids deserve to have a chance just to be kids. They deserve to live too. Please click on the donate button, no amount is too small. Thank you in anticipation Your shavees Gaylene and Nigel (Hannah's Mum and Dad in the Cayman Islands) Neil (Hannah's Uncle in Gold Coast, Australia) And Gayl ( Family friend in Melbourne, Australia)