St. Marguerite Catholic School

Austin is a Grade 6 student currently enrolled in our school who is experiencing severe medical difficulties. To help the family, we are holding a Hot Dog and Bake Sale on Thursday, Feb. 2.  Teachers will be selling hot dog tickets in advance so that we know how many hot dogs to cook.  Tickets are $3 for two hotdogs and can be purchased from homeroom teachers by Wednesday, Jan. 31st.  We will also be collecting general donations in the office until Feb. 2nd.

The Grade 8 Leadership class will also be hosting a bake sale on the same day, Thursday, Feb. 2nd.  For this sale we could use donations of baked goods and these can be brought to the office on Thursday, Feb. 2nd during the morning.  Items will be priced from $.25 t0 $2.00.

Austin Moore was 4 years old when he was diagnosed with a Tectal Plate Glioma (tumour on the brain) after suffering with headaches for a long time leading to this point. An emergency 3^rd ventriculostomy operation followed a few days later to relieve the pressure on his brain.

For the next 7 years we watched Austin go through many MRI’s and visits to the Stollery and tried alternative treatments. The tumour has progressively grown into the left thalamus by his brain stem and it is inoperable.

This past October (2011), the ongoing discussion about how and when to treat his tumour continued. At that point the decision was that he should receive radiation to attempt to shrink the tumour. In meeting with the radiologist, Austin’s Dad, Bobby, approached with a question about Proton Therapy which is a much more precise way of delivering radiation, therefore the long term side effects are much less detrimental to Austin’s health.

The problem with this type of radiation is that it is only available in several locations in the United States. Along with Austin, we decided to go ahead and apply for approval to receive Proton Therapy.

In early December Austin’s symptoms became worse and we needed yet another trip to the Stollery. It was discovered that the fluid in his brain had increased and another 3^rd ventriculostomy was required. He underwent this surgery on December 2^nd.

Unfortunately this did not relieve Austin’s pain. He suffered with a terrible headache until January 10^th when he needed to be readmitted to the Stollery. He underwent another surgery on January 11^th, this time to put in a shunt.

Right now Austin is recovering from this last surgery.

Once we receive the final approval for Austin to go to the states for his treatment, we will be on our way. The cost for his treatments will be covered, as they are not available in Canada. Thankfully our flights will also be covered. Austin will need to spend approximately 6 weeks there for his treatments.

The cost for accommodation, etc for his family will need to be paid for out of pocket. As you can imagine hotel, food, transportation to and from the hospital is going to be very costly. Austin also has 4 other siblings that will be at home while he is undergoing his treatment. They will have childcare expenses as well as everyday costs, such as food, etc.

Thank you for your support and help.