CALL FOR HELP ON LAUREN’S REMAINING TIME

Maeve Lauren Grana, known as Lauren to her family and friends is a five year-old Filipino girl who is suffering from Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumour (ATRT). ATRT is a very rare brain and spine cancerous tumour. The original plan of having radiation treatment for 7 weeks starting on the 8th of April 2019 has been cancelled. Because the tumour has been growing fast, she is now undergoing an intensive five-day radiation treatment in Auckland. It started last Tuesday, the 2nd of April and should finish on the 9th of April 2019. There will be no more treatments after these and parents were told to give Lauren a quality life for the remaining times.

We do not personally know the Grana family and just learned about their situation mid of March 2019 through one of our KPF brothers in Wellington. Last 25th of March 2019, we visited their home in Palmerston North. Lauren is quite a very reserved yet curious sweet child. She is the youngest among the three children of Mr Marsinel Grana and Mrs Vivian Grana who migrated to NZ in 2007. They lived the majority of their life in Wellington and have moved to Palmerston North only in December 2018. Marsinel is the sole earner in the family. Vivian, who was supposed to do part time jobs when Lauren starts schooling, had to look after her full time now.

Lauren’s medical journey started after she fell on her tail bone by end week of March 2018 and the pain emanated since then. They’ve gone to several GP check ups as the pain severely increases every week. It was only when Lauren’s tummy grew bigger and bigger that she has been recommended to go to the Emergency Department at Wellington Hospital. The MRI scan confirmed that there is a significantly size of tumour on the lower portion of her spine. The increasing severe pain was due to the nerves being squeezed by the tumour. The tumour was also blocking the signal path to the brain. Thus, the brain does not know that her bladder and bowel are already full making her constipated, and her tummy grew big.

She’s been flown to Starship Auckland for the surgery to remove the tumour. Unfortunately, the tumour was malignant and very aggressive. She’s then flown to Christchurch for a-five-month cancer treatment.

Lauren has undergone the following treatments already; Chemotherapy, Radiation Therapy, High-Dosage Chemotherapy with Autologous Stem-Cell Transplant. Lauren was in remission after the treatments, which ended in September 2018. Her first MRI post treatment results showed that no new tumour had grown. Post treatment monitoring is done every three months, however, the 2nd MRI post treatment showed that the new tumour have grown. Two on her brain and one on the spine, above the previous original tumour she had.

With the short amount of time that Lauren has left, we are knocking on your kind hearts to help her family any monetary assistance that you could share. A contribution of any amount will go a long way towards paying off the Grana Family’s ongoing expenses and to help give Lauren a quality life on the remaining times.