Battling Robyn home for holidays

THE family of a little girl undergoing specialist treatment in the US for a rare form of cancer are looking forward to a special Christmas celebration after doctors gave her permission to return to Ireland for the holidays.

Robyn Smyth (9) from Whitehall has been undergoing treatment for Neuroblastoma over the past few weeks at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and her family had expected her to remain there over Christmas.

Plans had been made for her father and little sister Millie to fly over to keep Robyn and her mum, Bernadette, company but a timely break in her chemotherapy presented an opportunity for the brave youngster to return home and she flew back to Dublin last week.

“It’s very hard to plan ahead with Robyn’s condition because you never know what’s going to happen,

? said Bernadette.

“We only learned she could come home just before we left. She had just finished a round of chemo and the doctors were happy that she was OK to travel and they just said go ahead.

“She was very sick on the Monday before we came back and we thought we mightn’t be able to travel but she was alright in time for the flight

“She’s doing really well now. I feel better that she’s home for Christmas. She feels good and if she’s OK, I feel OK.

?

Although Robyn is naturally delighted to be home with her little sister and the rest of the family she had only one thing on her mind when she learned she was coming back to Dublin.

“All she wanted was batch bread,

? Bernadette revealed.

“She just wanted batch bread toasted and that’s the first thing she got when she arrived home. I have a picture of her with her thumb up eating her batch bread.

?

Robyn has been responding well to treatment in America but will have to return to America early in January. She was diagnosed with the cancer aged just three but fought the illness and was able to enjoy life to the full after entering remission in 2009.

However, the cancer struck again earlier this year and Neuroblastoma is notoriously difficult to treat with survival rates as low as five per cent in patients who relapse.

But the family remain determined to give their little angel every chance possible to fight the condition. Doctors in Philadelphia are battling to keep Robyn’s condition under control and she’ll undergo promising experimental treatment through clinic trials if they’re successful.

“There is no official cure for relapse in Neuroblastoma,

? Bernadette said.

“We’re just hoping that she’s one of the exceptions who does get cured. That’s why you take these chances.

?

Regardless of how the treatment in the US progresses Robyn still faces years of treatment and her family, friends and numerous supporters are continually fundraising to ensure they can afford the on-going medical bills.

Robyn’s aunt, Cathy Doran, said fundraising efforts are going well but they’re desperately trying to keep the momentum going.

“We don’t know how much the treatment is going to cost so we have to keep at it,

? she said.

“We’re really very grateful to everybody who has donated and we’d ask everybody to continue to lend whatever support they can.

?

The next big event for Robyn’s Life Trust is a New Year’s Eve Charity Ball taking place at 7pm in the Radisson Hotel at Dublin Airport on December 31. Tickets cost e70 and the price includes a Champagne reception on arrival and a fabulous three-course meal with a vegetarian option available.

There’ll also be raffles for great prizes on the night and a DJ will provide music well into the early hours to help ring in the new year. Tickets are available by calling Helen Fitzpatrick on 086-2033522. More details can be found by searching for New Years Eve Charity Ball for Robyn Smyth on Facebook.