WHEN Kristy McMahon's daughter Ella was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) her family was torn from its routine of work and school, and cast into the unknown.
Ella was diagnosed on a Friday afternoon.
"By 7am the following Tuesday morning my husband, Matt, and I had both told our employers we would be gone for an unknown amount of time, Ella and her brother were both pulled out of school, the car was packed and we were on our way to Melbourne," Kristy said.
"We didn't know where we were going to stay, how long we'd be there or anything else.
"We had initially planned to live at Ronald McDonald House and send our younger son, Rory, to school near the hospital, but we quickly established that city and hospital life wasn't going to work.
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"Our seven year–old country boy was used to peddling his bike down the middle of dirt roads and resented the iron grip of his parents preventing him from being cleaned up by cars on Flemington Road.
"He vomited from anxiety almost every time he came into the hospital and saw his sister hooked up to chemotherapy bags.
"He struggled with our inability to provide him with routine, familiar surroundings and home cooked meals."
So Matt took Rory home and Kristy stayed at the hospital with Ella.
Each week they would swap, meeting briefly on the side of the Hume Highway, as one parent needed to hurry to the hospital while the other needed to be home before school finished.
"In the year after Ella's diagnosis we travelled more than 30,000 kilometres up and down the Hume Freeway to the Royal Children's Hospital and back," Kristy said.
"The State Government provides financial assistance for travel but the paperwork was so extensive we never claimed it in the first year.
"It's hard to explain the level of emotional and physical exhaustion you feel while your child is fighting for their life, everything you have is focused on their wellbeing, the rest goes on hold."
But they got some added support on one of their many trips to the local Albury hospital when a nurse put them in contact with Country Hope, a charity that supports families who have children with cancer and other terminal illnesses.
"A Country Hope volunteer came to the hospital and played Uno with Ella which gave me time to shower and walk outside the hospital for the first time in days," Kristy said.
"We were introduced to another local Osteosarcoma survivor, who gave us hope that Ella would beat this disease.
"The hospital visits and phone calls to check in for a chat were invaluable to us."
Kristy's family also received fuel vouchers for their trips to Melbourne and other financial assistance, as well as hampers at Christmas time and links to other parents on similar journeys.
"Our kids attended "Time Out for Life" camps for three years," Kristy said.
"The first time the kids went to camp I told Rory's carer he may be anxious and want to come home.
"He rang me a few days into camp and told me he didn't know what kid I was talking about – Rory hadn't missed a beat.
"He had so much fun that he cried when it was time to come home.
"It was a real turning point for him.
"We were so grateful that Country Hope recognised how important it was to look after siblings and not just the kids on treatment.
"Siblings miss out on so much, and deserve to be looked after and spoiled too."
Country Hope has been active in the region for 18 years and recently opened a new office and a shop in Albury.
Elle Webb, general manager of Country Hope, said originally the charity's main idea was to run a camp for children with cancer and other life threatening illnesses, and their siblings.
"But Country Hope quickly realised families needed much more support," Elle Webb said.
She said relationships often breakdown in families with very sick children.
"Emotional and financial support can help keep families together," Elle said.
Ella has just turned 15 and is cancer free.
"She endured dozens of surgeries to rebuild her leg after having a significant section of her femur and quad muscle removed where the tumour was situated," Kristy said.
"The good news is she is almost walking unaided and is achieving her goal of being a normal kid.
"It has been a long road, but we are thankful we didn't have to walk it alone."
Kristy now works at Country Hope and wants other families of children with cancer and terminal illnesses to contact her and get the benefit of the many services offered by the charity.
She said even if the child has finished the active part of their treatment they can still access Country Hope's services.
Its Albury office offers services covering the North East, including Benalla, Wangaratta, Bright, Mount Beauty, Corryong and Wodonga.
To help spread the hope, make a donation on (02) 6045 9777, or buy a quality handmade craft item from Country Hope's shop in the City Walk Arcade, 519 Dean Street, in Albury.
The shop is staffed by volunteers and sells donated paintings, hats, scarves, candles, jewellery, soaps, toys, blankets and garden art.
