Parents:  Jennifer & Maurice Thompson

Siblings:  Brother Sam, November 8, 1991

Residence: St Thomas

School: Paige is entering grade 12 at Central Elgin Collegiate Institute

Story: On February 26, 1989 Paige was diagnosed with Bilateral Retinoblastoma, a solid tumour in the eye.   Two days later on March 1st they removed her left eye and then began treatment for her remaining eye.  Every morning for a month Paige would go to the hospital with her mom.  Since Paige was only six months old she would need to be sedated, and because it was very important that she remain perfectly still during the radiation treatment.  Still radiation scatters causing a number of other side effects.  The radiation damaged the area around her eyes and nose causing it to grow at a much slower pace.   The implant in her left eye was forced out by the shrinkage of the tissues surrounding it.  Her pituitary gland was completely destroyed, and her growth was stunted and had to be replaced with synthetic hormones injected daily.  She developed cataracts in her right eye, which had to be removed with another surgery.  Every three months she would have to go under anesthetic for an examination of the remaining tumours in her right eye, and have them treated with laser therapy and cryo-therapy.

August 2, 1991 while examining Paige under anesthetic the doctors found that not only did the tumours begin to grow, there were also several new tumours.   We were directed to Toronto, not knowing where we were going or what to expect when we got there.   Paige was the fifth child put into a study,  to see if her sight could be saved.  Paige had a few strikes against her, she was the oldest child in the study and had received radiation and had relapsed.  Still we tried.  That Christmas we celebrated that everything was clear and we were finished Chemo.  January 7th 1992 was a very long day, our second relapse and second trial chemotherapy, this time she was the first in Canada to receive this.  Chemo brings other complications with it, but we managed through them.  One such problem was the need for platelets, the chemo destroyed them so badly, that a few days before her treatment in June, they stopped her treatments, and she was now done.  The treatment she’d had on May 20th was her last chemo.

They would continue to check and monitor Paige.  On August 14th her port-a-cath was removed.  When the doctor came out, she didn’t need to speak, the look on her face spoke volumes.  The unimaginable had happened, the tumours were very aggressive.   Her words still sting.  The remaining eye would have to be removed and now!  Our first goal is to save her life and we will deal with every thing else as it comes.

We returned to London for the surgery.  We wanted to be closer to home, our family and friends we really needed our supports.

Favourites:

Child’s Wish and dreams for the future:
Paige is currently planning for the school trip to Italy during the March break.  She is working on a cookbook to help fund the trip.

Paige enjoys writing and has posted several short stories and poems on www.fictionpress.net/deonamaranta   Paige would like to be an author and also to work with animals.Mom and Dad’s comments
We continue to deal with everything else as it comes.  Everything happens for a reason, we try to take the positive from our experiences and share them along the way.  We are thankful for the many friends we have made through this phase in our life.  We are very proud of Paige and all that she has undergone and continues to endure as a result of her cancer and its treatment.