Helping Hollie Fund #doingitforhollie - Updates - Givealittle

Hollie completed her transplants in record time. As expected they weren't easy, but she did really well and we were pleased to get her home each time. Her scans showed further improvement after these 2 rounds and we progressed to radiation at the end of August. Hollie completed 3 weeks of radiation, which really was the easy part of all of this. She didn’t suffer any side effects and has had a good month at home recovering. She still has some progress to make, but has started her first cycle of immunotherapy this week. We have 5 cycles to complete at this stage.

Thank you for all your well wishes and prayers. It means the world to us not to worry about affording whatever Hollie needs at the moment and being able to reward both her and her brother, William, for their ongoing resilience and support for each other, they are both truly amazing.

(picture) Hollie meeting the pups from Canine Friends Pet Therapy at the Northern Health School

Hollie has completed her chemo-immunotherapy cycles. The doctors are really pleased with her response to this treatment and after a myriad of re-tests over the last 2 weeks have confirmed the go-ahead of her first stem cell-transplant next week. We are so relieved to have reached this stage, although this will be a tough test for all the family.

Hollie’s diagnosis means that she is scheduled for tandem transplants, each of which could mean 4-6 weeks on the ward at a time, with a few weeks break between them. The saving grace for her is that the transplant is the re-introduction of her own stem cells, so one less complication to worry about.

Hopefully after these the final stages of treatment will be easier on her, and us, and will end with the desired outcome.

Thank you for your continued support.

Having completed cycle 3 of the new chemo/immunotherapy treatment we underwent preliminary testing last week to see if we had made any progress. The fantastic news is that this new treatment combination is working. We are elated and so relieved.

For anyone who wants to know a little about the science, Hollie's particular scan (MIBG) gives her a score based on the extent of the disease across 10 sites. To go forward for transplant our aim is to have her at zero, at most 2. Before and after the initial chemo Hollie's score was 25. After 3 cycles, we are now at 5!!

We have now completed cycle 4's treatment of a planned 6 , and so fingers crossed for the next set of test results.

We finished our chemotherapy cycles in December and following repeat tests were devastated to hear that the chemo had failed to make an impact on the disease in her bone marrow. A heart breaking outcome, which has set us down a new path.

We were unable to begin the stem cell transplant scheduled for January, but after an agonising week waiting for approval from the US for an immunotherapy drug, we began a new set of chemo/immunotherapy cycles on 19 Dec and made it home on Christmas Eve after the first one. Hollie was home for 2 weeks and recovered really well from a grueling treatment. We have all had to pick ourselves back up and put our somewhat dented faith back in the new treatment. If this does not work, then we will be looking to Australia for some specific radiation treatment not available here in NZ.

Again, we thank you all for your ongoing support and love.

We would like to send a huge thank you to everyone that is supporting Hollie and us through this journey. It has been tough change for the family, but one that we are attacking head on. Hollie has been an absolute star and takes each week in her stride, she is an inspiration. We started cycle 3 of chemotherapy this week, but have a long road ahead. The support has been overwhelming and all your well wishes very welcome. Hopefully we will be able to update you with some good news in the new year.

Thank you again to everyone.

Jo, John, William & Hollie