Supporting Sophie

Thanking the community: Leongatha’s Sophie Harris is grateful for all the support she’s received after being diagnosed with a form of bone cancer in August this year.

BELONGING to a small community comes hand-in-hand with its ups and downs.

The greatest aspect however, is without doubt the way a community rallies around each other in times of need.

The Harris family from Leongatha have learnt firsthand how incredible this support can be and would like the opportunity to say thank you.

In August this year, the family was living in Argentina when their daughter Sophie discovered a lump on her upper arm.

“It initially presented itself as a muscle contraction or a bit of tension in the arm, but after about four weeks of massage and physiotherapy it didn’t go away and seemed to have got worse,” Sophie’s father Tim said.

“At that point we realised it was something foreign to the muscle.”

In Argentina, Sophie was diagnosed with osteosarcoma; a bone cancer that causes the uncontrollable growth of bone cells, and a condition prevalent in adolescents as they go through a large growth spurt.

In Sophie’s case, the primary tumour was in the arm, and there had been a spread of secondary tumours to the lungs, which Tim said is fairly common.

After a diagnosis in Argentina, Tim and his wife Ana were faced with the decision to stay overseas for Sophie’s treatment, or come home to Australia.

“We were told they could have treated her over there, and we have family in Argentina, but most of our life has been lived in Australia and our broader base of support is here,” Tim said.

“Also the support of the medical system here is far better.”

And so the Harris family came home.

Tim said within five days, they got on a plane and flew back to Australia, travelling directly from the airport to the emergency department at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

“Within 48 hours, the medical team there had a pretty good handle on what Sophie had and straight away were moving in a pro-active direction,” Tim said, using one word to describe the hospital, its staff and the other patients: “phenomenal”.

“We’ve just been blown away by the way they manage the hospital, the staff and the facility; it is unbelievable,” he said.

“When you’re in oncology, you’re around all these young kids that have cancer and they are all unbelievable. They just get on with it and it’s quite an enlightening experience.”

Sophie went through her third phase of chemotherapy last week, and Tim said his daughter had generally remained in really good spirits and was very grateful for everybody’s support and thoughts.

“She’s still a 15-year-old and it’s a different role for her because it’s thrown her into the public light a little,” Tim said.

“She’s very grateful for everyone’s attention albeit she’s still getting used to it. As much as she knows what her diagnosis is, you have to balance that out because you don’t want her to be too overwhelmed and wondering why she’s the centre of everybody’s attention; she knows the diagnosis, she’s well aware of what the doctors have told her, which is good because it helps her to keep her feet.”

In a way to not only raise much needed funds to help Sophie and her family on the road to recovery, but to also give the Harris’s a chance to thank the local community, a family lunch for Sophie will be held at the Inverloch Inlet Hotel this Sunday.

Tim said they see the get together as a good opportunity to thank people for all of their support so far.

“There has been a lot of support; even just the little things, like people cooking meals for you – the small insignificant details of life that are sometimes forgotten and become very challenging when you’ve got a lot going on, and you’re trying to keep a clear mind to make good decisions for your daughter,” he said.

“It’s a nice chance for us to have everyone together to be able to thank them. Their support, even if it’s prayer, I’m sure is really worthwhile and powerful. It’s not something we can quantify or say thank you to every person individually, but we believe it makes a difference.

“Regardless of whether you can make the lunch, we appreciate everyone’s support we’ve received.”

The lunch will run this Sunday, December 2 from 12pm until 2pm.

The cost for adults is $30 and $10 for children, with all proceeds going towards helping Sophie and her family during this very difficult time.

All bookings and enquiries can be made by contacting ‘Hoots’ at the hotel on 5674 1481.

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Posted by Simone Short on Nov 27 2012. Filed under Featured, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry