Kidney Cancer Support Grant – a story of a brave little girl

A very brave kidney cancer patient

Eva (pictured on the left with her 5 year old big brother Jackson) has just turned 2 and was diagnosed with Wilm’s Tumor when she was 19 months old.
On the 10th of November 2013 her parents took Eva to the emergency doctor  as they noticed she wasn’t well. After a series of tests and scans she was diagnosed with Wilm’s Tumor. She underwent the surgery in January to remove the tumour and her left kidney and now has her weekly chemotherapy. She has also had 8 days of radiotherapy.
Eva was awarded our kidney cancer support grant which her parents applied for. Rebecca, Eva’s mum said:
‘I just wanted to thank you for the kidney cancer support grant that has been awarded to our daughter Eva Gilligan. This is great and will really help our family during this difficult time. The prognosis is often very good with Wilm’s and it’s something us Gilligan’s cling to daily. Eva will require both chemotherapy and surgery in order to overcome this heartbreaking condition. We all know the hidden strengths and resilience that children have when faced with such challenges and bless her, Eva has been a very brave and cheerful girl throughout this whole ordeal which makes us all us all very proud indeed.’ 
 
Patient Grant is awarded to patients who experience economic hardship because of a diagnosis of kidney cancer. These kidney cancer support grants do not cover treatment or medications, but are designed to ease hardship caused by additional costs of travel to appointments, car parking fees, fuel, care or retraining, for example. The grants are supported by the money raised by Kidney Cancer UK. To apply for a patient support grant, please click here.
Wilm’s Tumor or nephroblastoma, is a very rare type of kidney cancer that affects children. It is named after a German doctor, Dr Max Wilms (1867-1918), who first described it. Wilms’ tumour afflicts about 70 children per year in the UK, and is curable in 90% of cases. A nephroblastoma is abnormal tissue that grows on the outer part of one or both kidneys. Children with this condition are at risk of developing a type of Wilms’ tumour that grows quickly. It is thought that nephroblastomas originate from specialised cells in the developing embryo known as metanephric blastema, which are involved in the development of the child’s kidney while they are still in the womb. These cells usually disappear at birth, but in many children with Wilms’ tumour, cells called nephrogenic rests can still be found on the kidneys. For more information please click here.