Key sentences :
- Cape Town – One Green Point family is interesting to the public to assist in making costly treatment available for their 17-month-old daughter following a vicious progression of stage four neuroblastoma.
- In just one week, Mariah Hassan’s cancer became worse, and the family is appealing to the public to assist by donating towards the combination treatment, chemotherapy and immunotherapy, she requires.
Mariah was diagnosed on February 26, 2021. Before the diagnosis, Mariah had suffered recurring fevers Also experienced a loss of desire, said her mother, Jenna Cook. “Three professors told us it was TB and that the last doctor we withdrew to slipped on her gloves, and as she did so.
She told me, ‘I’m inclined to think that this is teething,’ and 30 seconds later, her perceptions shot open and she felt a lump.
“The next day when my child was exposed, they did an ultrasound, and they found that it was a tumor in her abdomen, and they also saw lesions in her liver,” Cook said. In addition, scans showed cancer had spread to Mariah’s bones and bone marrow. “The other bad news that we also got is that Mariah has a genetic mutation which is commonly associated with neuroblastoma, which was driving the progression of her disease,” said Cook.
After rounds of chemotherapy and scans after that, the progression of the disease continued, which prompted the family to seek medical advice abroad in consultation with their doctors. A Green Point family is appealing to the public to assist in making costly treatment accessible for their 17-month-old daughter following a vicious progression of stage four neuroblastoma. Picture: Supplied.
Last week, Scans showed the cancer was becoming progressively worse, with Mariah losing her hair and a large tumor developing on her cheek. The combination therapy will see the chemotherapy administered in South Africa and an immunotherapy drug administered in America.
Cook said she has had to give up her job as an advocate at the High Court due to her daughter’s pressing medical needs. Mariah’s father, Irfaan Hassan, said: “My daughter means the world to me, and as a father, I would like to give her the world. However, the cost of this treatment is so exorbitant, and it kills me knowing her chances of survival hang in the balance because of a lack of funds.”