Asher Brown Asher underwent surgery last night. His mum said he had a big 28 hour sleep after it. Diagnosed at only a few weeks of age, Asher has battled #tumour on both his retinas for most of his two years. While his parents live within 30 minutes of an excellent children's hospital and #cancer centre, the nearest doctor able to treat this cancer was six hours away by car. Asher went through systemic #chemo for six months. Then unfortunately, the doctor that was able to treat him moved, leaving the facility with not one physician capable of replacing her to treat this cancer. “We knew that we had to continue his care, and we knew that our options were limited. There are only a handful of specialists in the U.S. that are capable of treating this type of cancer. Our options were to relocate care to a new doctor in another part of the nation, or follow our doctor,” said Wendy Brown, Asher’s mother, “We opted to follow and keep continuity of care. Instead of a six hour drive, we now had a six hour flight... plus airport time. While we were originally told that the [#healthinsurance] would continue to cover the costs, we were three months and three appointments down the road before we found out that they would not cover anything... even though they had told us they would.” Cancer also affects the family. Asher has siblings aged from two to twenty. In general, the 'cancer family support network' is strong for the first three months. "After that, you quickly discover who your real friends are. Who the people are who will go the distance for you and with you. We've lost friends, we've gained new friends," said Brown. "We chose to take on cancer. For most people, their child is born with cancer or is diagnosed with cancer long after entering the family by birth or other means. Asher wasn't our [biological] child. We adopted him knowing about his cancer. We #adopted him knowing he could be blind forever... knowing that we would be walking a medical road of unknowns and high responsibilities. As a family, we made a choice to accept this challenge, embrace it fully and walk forward together. I will not say that the road has been easy. I will not say that it has been inexpensive. I will say it has been an adventure, it has made us laugh and cry, it has strengthened our family, and it has caused us to focus on the here and now, not the past. It has caused us to re-evaluate what is really important - what really truly matters. This child, my son, matters." #ICCD2016 Photo: Childhood Cancer International/Courtesy of the Brown family
