World Childhood Cancer Day

Children’s Cancer Day 15.02.

Doris Prasch and three-year-old Lio

(Bild: Doris Prasch)

February 15 is International Childhood Cancer Day. The journey from diagnosis to recovery from the disease is a real ordeal for the families affected. Styrian Children's Cancer Aid offers support. The mother of three-year-old Lio reports. 

"It was hell," says Tanja Fink, mother of little Lio. She is referring to the beginning of 2024, when the then not even three-year-old was suddenly in incredible pain all over his body and could no longer move properly at times. In February, after weeks of uncertainty, the family finally received the diagnosis at Graz Regional Hospital: Lio had leukemia. A fate that the boy shares with many others: Every year, around 300 children and young people in Austria are diagnosed with cancer. 

With leukemia, however, Lio has drawn the "best lot" of all cancers: "One of the doctors said to me that if you had to choose a cancer for your child, you would choose leukemia," the mother recalls. The reason for this is the chance of a cure. As leukemia is the most common type of cancer in children, research has focused on this area for decades. Almost 100 percent of cases can already be cured today.

Lio Fink with the Styrian Children's Cancer Aid calendar, for which he also drew a picture.

(Bild: Tanja Fink)

In the beginning, however, the prognosis does not mean much to those affected, as the diagnosis is devastating and the despair is great. "It felt like the rug had been pulled out from under my feet," says Fink. After the diagnosis, a long journey begins for the family: the therapy lasts a whole two years. The child and mother spend much of this time in the children's cancer ward at Graz Regional Hospital. "This is the best ward. Doctors, nursing staff and the parents of the other children became like a family to me during this time. Everyone is there for each other."

The mother was able to breathe a sigh of relief for the first time the day before her birthday: "On September 9, 2024, Lio was allowed to ring the bell. That was the best birthday present for me." The ringing of the bell on the children's cancer ward is a symbolic sign that a child has finished intensive therapy and can continue treatment of the disease at home.

Support at all levels
This is where the Styrian Children's Cancer Aid and Doris Prasch come into play. She is the organization's mobile children's nurse and accompanies affected families back to normality. Prasch comes to the children's homes and carries out the necessary blood tests and examinations so that they don't have to go to hospital every week. "Of course, this saves the children and families time," says Prasch. But the feel-good factor of these home visits is much more important: "I'm not the one who could tell the children they have to stay in hospital again. They're not afraid of me."

World Childhood Cancer Day

• February 15 is International Childhood Cancer Day. A topic that not many people like to deal with, but one that needs attention.
• In addition to leukemia, the most common types of cancer in children include brain tumors and lymphomas.
• Nevertheless, there is hope: 85 percent of children with the disease are still alive five years after their diagnosis.
• The chance of a cure for leukemia is almost 100 percent.

Prasch is also an anchor for Lio and his family: "Doris is a person of the heart, she is one of them," says Fink. The mobile pediatric nurse not only makes the necessary examinations easier, she also becomes an important confidant for parents, children and siblings. "If I'm unsure, I can call Doris or write to her. She's always there," says the mother. 

Today, the almost four-year-old is doing well. The treatment of his illness has so far gone without any major side effects: "The doctors say that he is a model cancer patient," says Fink. Lio still has to take medication every day for another year or so and Doris Prasch visits him regularly. But normality is slowly returning to the family's everyday life. "I have a little hero at home," says the mother proudly.