The parents of a baby girl with a rare and aggressive form of cancer are trying to raise €500,000 for treatment in the US if, as is likely, she suffers a relapse. Clodagh Daly, whose first birthday is on October 31st, was diagnosed with stage 4-S neuroblastoma at just five weeks old. She has the most virulent dose of this disease. Neuroblastoma is the most common type of cancer in children under the age of two. Ten cases of it are diagnosed in Ireland every year. It is a cancer of special nerve cells called neuroblasts. These can appear in nerve tissue in areas of the body such as the spine, abdomen and chest. The disease accounts for 15 per cent of cancer deaths in children.
Clodagh’s Portlaoise-based parents, John and Tammy Daly, had their daughter checked out when she was unable to keep down her bottle feeds. “It was a minor stomach complaint,” said John. But after tests, the doctors saw a tumour on her adrenaline gland which turned out to be neuroblastoma. It spread to her liver and spleen.
Clodagh is nearly 11 months into intensive treatment at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin with about four months’ treatment remaining. “She has been through several courses of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery. At the moment, she is undergoing immunotherapy.” Once Clodagh has been through the treatment, she will have to return to hospital every two months for scans “to see if the cancer has come back. It could happen any time – after a week or 10 years,” he said.
In 70 per cent of cases, a relapse occurs. “If Clodagh was to relapse, she will probably be going to the US. The treatment is very expensive.”
The Clodagh Daly Trust has been set up to raise funds for Clodagh's treatment.
facebook.com/clodaghdalytrust.