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Supporting Lucy Filipo

  • Lucy's home: An update from Dan & Ange

      13 April 2014

    Hi TEAM LUCY! Great news! We are home in Hastings and it is awesome to be home. Great to be back and great to have Lucy back where she belongs. We arrived back last Sunday and are getting our bearings back but itfs an amazing feeling to be back to the place we call home. Lucy has Chemo in Hastings on Thursday and will need to go back to Auckland next Wednesday and hopefully only for a night. After next week we will know more but weekly visits to Auckland are likely for a while. Lucy seems more relaxed and itfs great not being stuck in a shoe box like we were. We are truly grateful to Starship Hospital, Ronald McDonald House and The Child Cancer Foundation for all they have done for us while we have been in Auckland. The services up in Auckland are amazing and Lucy was in the best place for the initial treatment program but HOME is HOME. You canft beat it! Lucy continues to receive gifts from TEAM LUCY! We came back to a signed ALL BLACKS Jersey for Lucy from her Uncle Ezzy- thanks cuz for the present- looks awesome and it fits me well:-) Uncle Harry made Lucy a bowl that we have sitting near out TV- Lucy keeps saying gElenifs dad made thath or gUncle Harryh and points to it. Thanks buddy for that and the many other things you have done. We also had Haley, who has taken care of Lucy at daycare Nature Kids, her Aunty donated a raffle prize she won as part of Nature Kids Easter raffle- a huge thank you to Nature Kids for EVERYTHING they have done and continue to do for us- we will come and see you soon and thanks to Aunty Cathy for the present! Itfs great to be home and we will try and catch up with TEAM LUCY! when we can- we really still cannot believe how much you have all done for us. We will never be able to repay you for the support and generosity you have given us but we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. We will keep you updated on our progress- huge Thanks from us here in HASTINGS! YAY!:-)

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  • An Update from Dan & Ange

      30 March 2014

    Week 2 is almost up. On Thursday Lucy had a full on morning of treatment including a platelet transfusion and Theatre for a Lumbar Puncture and Bone Marrow Aspirate. Later that day we were able to Leave Ward 27B @ Starship and venture down into Ronald McDonald House. It was great to get Lucy out into some fresh air, if only for a while. Lucy is still in a Neutropenia stage, so she is still very prone to getting an infection. She has been in the room most of her time at Ronald McDonald House as we donft want to risk her getting an infection as this will set her back weeks if not months. Friday we went to the Domain and had a picnic. Lucy really enjoyed this- jumping in the pram, putting her hat on and going on an adventure. Shefs my little explorer. Lucy is responding well to treatment so far. She bounces back like a boomerang. She still looks like Lucy the way we know her. She has noticeably lost weight in parts of her body. Her legs and arms are a lot thinner and she struggles to walk. We have to help her with each step. Itfs hard for us to watch but we know itfs a million times harder for her not being able to do something she knows she has done before on her own and with ease. It must be so hard for her to comprehend this. I think we forget sometimes that she is still barely 2 years of age. Itfs hard for me to watch. Our journeys will be different but are similar already. Like I said, she has responded well to treatment and physically she is holding up very well. For me, I worry about her emotional and mental wellbeing once her body changes significantly. Having gone through the body transformation, I became very self-conscious about the way I looked- face and stomach ballooning out, legs going the other way and becoming thin like chicken legs and probably the biggest one of all, losing your hair. I know she is only 2 but wondering why your body is changing like this will be hard for her and us as well. I think about my apprehension and this is overcome by my 2 angels. Lucy has taken everything and bounced back with great strength and courage. Angela has been a Tower of Strength for Lucy and I. Lucy and mom have an unbreakable bond that not even Cancer can break. And we know TEAM LUCY! are right by our side on this journey. We feel every prayer and message of support. Again TEAM LUCY! we thank you all for EVERYTHING! We are so overwhelmed by the messages of support and the generosity of our Champion TEAM LUCY! People who donft even know us have contributed in some way to Lucy and we canft thank TEAM LUCY enough- We promise that we will never give up, we will never stop fighting, we will never stop thinking positive and we will never forget what TEAM LUCY! have done for us. Much Love TEAM LUCY! from the Filipofs @ Ronald McDonald House

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  • Lucy's Treatment

      23 March 2014

    Lucy is now receiving chemotherapy at Auckland's Starship Hospital. This will continue for at least the next 6 months, then ongoing treatments will follow for a further 2 years. We have set up this Give a little page in response to requests made by friends and family, and will keep you posted on all fundraising events we hold in the coming weeks & months. Thank you.

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