Chemotherapy treatment for a kidney cancer tumor is causing little Hannah Parker loss of appetite and stomach nausea.
The five-year-old Prince George girl now has a feeding tube inserted to give her the nutrition needed, her mother Candice McNamara said Tuesday from B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver.
"Hannah will begin another series of chemotherapy Wednesday so I expect she will continue to be nauseated. But we just have to get through this treatment," said Candice who stays at the hospital to be close to Hannah.
The problem began with a fist-size malignant tumor called a Wilms tumor which had already reached the stage four cancer level and had spread to her lungs and liver by the time she was admitted in Vancouver.
It's only a couple of weeks since Candace, a nurse, felt a large mass under the rib cage while trying to discover why Hannah's stomach was bloated. Within a day after visiting the emergency unit in Prince George the two were in Vancouver.
The child is now undergoing a six-week series of chemotherapy following which she will be re-scanned to see if the tumor has shrunk enough to remove it safely along with her left kidney. "Fortunately her right kidney is functioning good at this point," said Candace, whose other three small girls, aged four and two-year-old identical twins, are being cared for by family in Prince George.
Candace, who is separated and a stay-at home mom, is having a rough time making ends meet between home commitments and extra expenses in Vancouver.
A group of her friends have put out a call to the community to assist Candace by making donations to a trust account set up in the name of Candace McNamara at any Prince George branch of the TD Bank.
The account No. is 632872293330 at the TD Bank in College Heights and 9333-6328722 at the Victoria Street branch.
