ABOUT DANAÉ
Sheldon and Maureen's words:
Our daughter Danaé was born on the 26 July 2005, the same day as her father’s birthday. We were so overjoyed with this gift from above. Maureen stayed at home for approximately 4.5 months, caring for Danaé. However her maternity leave soon ended and we had to send Danaé to nursery school. She thoroughly enjoyed it there.
As the weeks went by something silently affecting her health. She was getting colds, flu and coughs quite often. We took her to the paediatrician every time she contracted these infections. He treated her according to her symptoms and she became well. We thought these frequent occasions she was sick were attributed to the fact that she was at nursery school – an environment full of children’s germs.
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About her parents:
We met during 1998 at a youth meeting on a Friday night. We were married on 4th September 1999 in Sandton (Johannesburg ,South Africa) and then moved to Durban during 2000.
Maureen is Afrikaans and hailed from Boksburg, a suburb on the EAST RAND . I lived in Durban for most of my life and moved up to Johannesburg where I worked for 1.5years.
We both love our music and used to attend many concerts & recitals. I reached piano grade 6 and since then I have also, on a part-time basis, entertained people in restaurants or at special events with backround music.
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Her treatment and illness:
During the week of the 5th June, Danaé got very ill. The flu she had contracted during this period got worse. She was coughing so much and wasn’t responding to the medication we gave her. On the 8th June we rushed her to her paediatrician and he diagnosed her having broncho-pneumonia. She had to be admitted to hospital. We thought that this was the worst of our worries but what we didn’t know was that the worst was yet to come.
Prior to Danaé being admitted to hospital, her paediatrician noticed that her complexion looked very anaemic and her spleen was swollen. He then sent her for blood testing - he suspected something but did not tell us until the morning. That evening Maureen stayed over with Danaé in hospital.
The next morning at 06h45 I received a call from her paediatrician asking me to come to the hospital, he needed to speak to both of us. I started to get cold shivers. On arrival at the hospital he summoned us to a private room where he told us the devastating news: Danaé has leukaemia. It was as if Danaé’s life had already ended.
Danaé was then transferred from the local hospital, the Umhlanga Hospital , to a hospital about 25min from home and began treatment under the care of Dr. Monica Vaithilingum. They had to stabilise her pneumonia first before any treatment could begin for the leukaemia. The doctor told us that even more terrible news – Danaé had a 10-20% chance of making it through the weekend. We have never prayed so much in our lives before together with our family and church leaders. As the weekend came to a close, Danaé was out of the immediate danger. We thanked God. Danaé soon got over the pneumonia and began treatment for the acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) as diagnosed by Dr Monica. The prognosis was poor. It was discovered that Danaé has a rare type of ALL. Nevertheless much to our joy, after her first phase of chemotherapy, she was in remission.
Our joy was short lived – on the 9th of October 2006, Danaé relapsed, exactly four months after her first being diagnosed with the disease. The feelings of the 9th June had returned. We were shattered – where to now? We had to continue to place our trust in God. Danaé then was placed under aggressive chemotherapy in order to bounce her back into remission. We experienced a miracle, Danaé was supposed to be in hospital for 6 weeks to treat the side effects of the aggressive treatment – she came out in two weeks. After yesterday’s appointment with Dr Monica, her first words were: “She is looking good! “ However before she can test her bone marrow to see if she is back in remission, we need to wait until her overall white blood cell count has reached the normal level.
Danaé is the most content and happy baby there could ever be. Amid all her injections, surgical operations and bitter medication – she just remains herself. She has these gorgeous blue eyes that just know how to bribe her father. Her favourite toy is the music ball. But at sleep time she cuddles with “Teddy”.
When ever I return from work and she hears the keys in the gate , she shouts “Thaa Thaa”.
Sheldon - Last but not the least, my wife Maureen has been a tower of strength, patience & love. To patiently look after, nurse and feed little Danaé in one room at Parklands Hospital for over a month and then for every alternate week back in hospital – it is a difficult experience.
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Trying to find donors:
At the moment we are in the process of finding a suitable bone marrow donor for Danaé. Many relatives, friends and work associates have volunteered to get tested but we have not found a match yet.
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What she needs:
We are praying hard that she can be in remission in order to prepare her for the bone marrow transplant that will take place early next year and for which we have launched a fundraising drive and a search of a bone marrow donor. Please assist Danaé towards being cured.
She needs approximately R1.2 million to cover her bills just for the bone marrow transplant. Equally important is finding the correct donor who will be a match for Danaé.
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Above is a blurry picture of her clapping hands when she sensed our excitement that we all could go home after a week of chemo last week. Even the chemo has not affected her so badly – another sign of God’s loving mercy upon her.
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About the Danaé Foundation:
When I discovered my niece Danaé had Leukaemia, I was devastated. My reactions were exactly like those that have been highlighted in the Your feelings section in the Leukaemia information centre on this website. I decided at this point that the challenge facing Danaé would be an inspiration to me and hopefully others. When I see her smiling after all she has been through, I think there is work to be done, not just for her but also for other children.
For the sake of clarity, I must stress at this point in time the Danaé Foundation is totally self-funded and we are working towards becoming a charity to help other children. My aim is to set the right foundations for the Danaé Foundation, both ethical and financial and this will lead us to move forward in the right direction.
My mission is to make sure the Danaé Foundation provides a resource and real support for children and adults and their families who are experiencing Leukaemia. We aim to educate to raise awareness and to be proactive in this area.
It is important that we also reach the black and ethnic communities and encourage them to come forward as donors as they are under-represented on the bone marrow registers world-wide.
Please do not hesitate to get in contact with us. I assure you we will do our best to help you.
I would also like to thank all the people who have supported us and given their time for free to make this dream of a better future for our children come to life. It has touched our hearts and your work has not gone unnoticed.
Thank you for your support.
To those of you who have visited the Danaé Foundation website for the first time, I thank you and hope it raises your awareness on the impact of Leukaemia on lives.
Please join me in this effort and GET INVOLVED……
Yours sincerely
Candice Vetter
