Luna Kemmery’s family fundraise for stage four neuroblastoma

A young Brisbane mother whose daughter had endured months of unexplained illness said she refused to leave hospital until medicos scanned a lump in her abdomen — a moment of defiance that might have saved her little girl’s life.

A young Brisbane mother has revealed the six month battled she and her partner endured, against medical professionals, to receive their daughter’s stage four rare cancer diagnosis, a condition only 40 Australian children are diagnosed with each year.

A Brisbane mother and father have been devastated by their toddler’s rare cancer diagnosis, which impacts only 40 children in Australia per year.

Two-year-old Luna Kemmery from East Brisbane has spent more than half of her life in and out of hospital when she became violently unwell in November 2022.

Her mother Samantha Byrne, 27, was told Luna’s projectile vomiting and constant discomfort was “normal” to “just deal with it” by their general practitioner.

“We took her to the GP and hospital emergency room several times who told us we had nothing to worry about,” Miss Byrne said.

“She got progressively worse and in July this year she became very unwell again, kids this age commonly get urinary tract infections so after one week of unsuccessful antibiotics we took her back to emergency.”

Doctors began to take Luna’s condition more seriously when her parents noticed a lump in her abdomen.

“It developed overnight and was causing her discomfort … doctors thought she was constipated but we refused to leave until she had a scan,” Miss Byrne said.

In July, Luna was diagnosed with high-risk stage four neuroblastoma, a cancer with a 50 per cent five-year survival rate.

“The results of the scan revealed the lump was a tumour and we didn’t leave the hospital for five weeks after that,” she said.

Luna was diagnosed with high-risk stage four neuroblastoma, a cancer with a 50 per cent five-year survival rate.

“Luna’s cancer is extremely rare, in simple terms a bunch of her immature cells have taken over and turned cancerous,” Miss Byrne said.

“She was diagnosed on the Thursday and began her first three week cycle of chemotherapy on the Saturday morning.

“There is a high chance that she will lose her hearing, encounter thyroid and digestive problems, and be more likely to develop secondary cancers, such as leukaemia,” she said.

Luna received 21 days of treatment and the family is now forced to wait to see how her small, compromised body has responded.

Miss Byrne said she was in awe of Luna’s resilience but was heartbroken her daughter was spending her early years of childhood enduring invasive procedures in hospital.

“I wish cancer on no one … having cancer is horrible, but I think the treatments are far more horrible to endure and despite everything she has endured she still manages to find the joy in little things every day,” Miss Byrne said.

“Chemo has caused her to be nauseous 24/7 which has obviously taken its toll on her body which is traumatic.

“Our lives now revolve around constant hospital admissions, weekly hospital appointments, close monitoring her nutritional intake, administering medications around the clock and being extra cautious not to get sick or expose our young family to sickness.

“Naturally, our daughter is our whole world and we do all we can to keep her safe,” she said.

Luna has been told by doctors she has a 60 per cent chance of relapse and to prepare for the worst the family has created a GoFundMe page.

Luna has been told by doctors she has a 60 per cent chance of relapse and to prepare for the worst the family has created a GoFundMe page.

“If Luna’s current cycle is unsuccessful we will look at treatments available in America which costs $500,000,” Miss Byrne said.

“One thing we ask if people aren’t in the financial position to donate to our fundraiser is to share the page or to consider donating blood and platelets, this can save lives and we’re so grateful,” she said.