Take care of your Mum for me mate
The words spoken by the sonographer that discovered 3 lumps in 9-month-old Raphael Budzynski-Cullen’s Abdomen on the 5/09/2023.
Raffa’s Mum (Andrea) and Dad (Brad) had noticed their son’s stomach was looking rather large, and hard as well. They kept an eye on it for a few days but when Raffa vomited up bile, it was decided that it was time to have Raffa seen to by the doctors. The doctor felt around and sent Raffa for urgent scans. This was where the sonographer made the discovery of three large lumps in baby Raffa’s body.
That day Andrea, Brad and Raffa packed up, sent Raff’s siblings Amelia and Leo to Brad’s mums, and headed straight to the Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane.
This was where Raffa was diagnosed with Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma. It was identified he had a tumour the size of a grapefruit pushing his liver up and multiple tumours throughout his body.
Since that diagnosis, Raffa has undergone:
- 16months of treatment – including chemotherapy, stem cell rescue, radiation and 2 bone marrow transplants.
- Major surgery to remove the rest of the tumour after the chemotherapy killed it.
- He has had countless blood transfusions, a central line place in through his neck, CT scans, MRI’s, biopsies, injection dressing changes.
Just when Raffa’s family thought that he had come to the end of his treatment Raff had to be seen for a problem with his eye. A problem Brad noticed – that Raff’s eye was not dilating. Plus, there was a bruise on his eye that couldn’t be explained. Late October, just 2 months before treatment was expected to end, Raff was diagnosed with a relapse, with a massive tumour behind his left eye which was also touching the optic nerve.
The family are optimistic that they can see Raff through his cancer journey and strive to live life to the fullest with their brave little man. This however has come at a cost, with Brad and Andrea having to relocate the family to Brisbane and leaving Brad with no option but to give up his job. Loans have been put aside but now they need to be dealt with.
Can you help Raffa and his family keep their quality of life and donate to Raff’s journey?
Thank you,
Raff’s family.