Cancer battler to help push appeal

Kaitaia's Te Paea Rameka, with mother Arerina, loves her beads - especially the rainbow ones. Photo / Peter Jackson

A girl from Kaitaia is one of four 2015 Child Cancer Foundation national ambassadors chosen to represent the children who are supported by the organisation

Te Paea Rameka, 8, has a smile that has charmed the many nurses, doctors and other health professionals she has seen while undergoing treatments for a Medulloblastoma brain tumour.

When Te Paea was 7, she began getting headaches, which the local doctor initially thought was a viral bug. After several days of headaches, she had stopped eating and getting her to drink was difficult. After tests, the family was taken by ambulance from Kaitaia Hospital to Whangarei Hospital where the tumour was identified through a CT scan.

From then "things were a blur" for Te Paea and her mother, Arerina Rameka, with an immediate transfer to Auckland's Starship Hospital and straight into the operating theatre to relieve the pressure on her brain.

"I guess I was in shock, one minute we were at the doctor's, then the hospital, then on to a helicopter and then in another hospital in a different city with about 20 people in the room with us and then Te Paea was taken into the operating theatre," Ms Rameka said.

"Everything just happened so fast."

The tumour was removed in November 2013 and Te Paea wears more than 500 Beads of Courage, which were given to her by the foundation in recognition of the 32 radiation treatments, 55 cycles of chemotherapy and many other procedures she has undergone.

Te Paea loves to show off her beads and her favourite are the rainbow ones, while her mother loves the handmade beads.

"The beads have been a great motivator for Te Paea, helping her to get through procedures which she is scared of as she knows that she gets a bead at the end," Ms Rameka said. "Without the Child Cancer Foundation, our journey would have been a lot harder to deal with."

Te Paea finished her last round of chemotherapy in October last year and, for the next two years, will have regular MRI scans at Starship and check-ups at Whangarei Hospital.

One of the four faces of foundation's annual street appeal on March 20-21, Te Paea is looking forward to just being an 8-year-old girl who loves music and crafts.

More than three New Zealand children are diagnosed with cancer each week.

And chief executive Robyn Kiddle says the foundation aims to reduce the impact of that by offering services that ensure children and their families are supported, informed and well cared for at every stage.

-The foundation receives no direct government funding, and donations, including instant $3 donations, can be made to it, text BEAD to 206 or www.childcancer.org.nz.