British ex-pats Gaylene and Nigel Meeson live in England with their 17-year-old daughter, who is a brain cancer survivor. Hannah was born and grew up in the Cayman Islands. She owes her life to research, but she struggles daily with the permanent physical, emotional, and cognitive disabilities caused by her cancer.
The Meeson family’s nightmare began with a visit to the pediatrician in Georgetown, Grand Cayman to discuss Hannah's serious balance issues. Within a few hours, a CT scan revealed a tumor on the cerebellum with hydrocephalus and Hannah was airlifted to Miami for surgery, later diagnosed as anaplastic medulloblastoma.
From July 2012 to May 2014, Hannah was based at MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital in Houston, Texas and spent only a few weeks at her home in the Cayman Islands. She completed six weeks of proton radiation with sedation to her whole brain and spine, followed by six months of triple drug chemotherapy. In early April 2013, Hannah's MRI showed disease progression and she began another triple drug chemotherapy treatment. After nine cycles of the new combination of drugs, the MRI in May 2014 showed that the tumors had disappeared and the disease was finally stable.
With no known protocols to follow that work for relapse, Hannah's treatment for the relapse was little more than an educated guess. Funding is desperately needed for new trials, new drugs and treatment options for all pediatric cancers. "All of the drugs Hannah has been given were developed for adults, mostly over 25 years ago, and many of them not even approved for use in children." The long-term affects and damage from all the chemotherapy and radiation are permanent, horrific, and endless. While she remains stable with no evidence of disease, she's lost her balance entirely, and lives with permanent physical, emotional, and cognitive disabilities with complex endocrine failure, affecting her everyday life.
Hannah is our hero. Despite the grueling treatment, being away and late effects which continue to materialize more than 10 years on, she still manages to enjoy life. She won't let cancer have the last word.
We set up this fund in her honour because, "kids like Hannah are worth fighting for." They all deserve more.
Awareness = Funding = Research = Cures
These people make us smile - they’re the doers and money-raisers on behalf of Hannah's Heroes. They’re shaving their heads, hosting events, starting fundraisers and more to make childhood cancer research possible.
Start your own St. Baldrick’s head-shaving event to raise money on behalf of our Hero Fund! You’ll be paired with a staff member who will walk you through every step of the process, and you’ll have fun knowing you’re doing a great thing for kids with cancer.
Register to shave your head and raise money for our Hero Fund at any St. Baldrick’s event happening around the world! Not finding an event near you? Register as a virtual shavee and shave your head anytime, anywhere.
Head-shaving not your thing? You can start a fundraiser to raise money for our Hero Fund with St. Baldrick’s in a way that interests you! Like biking? Bike a marathon. Like baking? Start a cookie baking fundraiser… You get the picture.
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