Tania's story

Riarne Wood was just 16 years old when she was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a cancerous tumor of the bone. Tania Wood, Riarne’s mother, describes the diagnosis and subsequent cancer treatment like a whirlwind.

“Riarne would go in for chemotherapy, come out, get sick, and go back in. You are just so busy seeing one doctor or another or having tests, you don’t have time to break down,” Tania recalls.

With medical costs mounting, it wasn’t until the household bills started coming in that the Wood family turned to Redkite, a leading Australian charity that supports children and young people through cancer.

Redkite’s approach is to provide practical help for the whole family. This includes essential services such as financial and educational assistance; support in hospitals through social workers and music therapists; and community based support including telephone and email counselling. This ensures families, wherever they are in Australia, have access to vital support when they need it most.

For the Wood family, Redkite helped with electricity and other essential bills, but it was Redkite’s Community Based Support Program that Tania found invaluable.

“I composed an email to Redkite and was contacted by Leigh Kurth, Redkite’s Senior Services Coordinator. We spoke for an hour and a half. Riarne was stuck in an arm brace for four months after surgery on her upper arm so it was a very down time. It was fantastic to have someone who understood all the stages we were going through,” says Tania.

This initial support and understanding lead Tania to take part in a Redkite Telegroup.

Redkite Telegroups are facilitated by professionally trained staff and run for groups of six people over an eight-week period. Participants talk on the telephone each week to discuss different themes and to support each other.

“People tell you you’re doing a great job, but I just think I am doing what any mum would do,” says Tania. “I also have a 21-year-old son at home, as well as our 11-year-old, who is in a wheelchair fulltime. You can’t just shut them out. My husband does a fantastic job looking after them while I am in the hospital with Riarne, but my younger daughter really misses me.

“In the Telegroup, it’s amazing how similar the mum’s stories are,” she continues. “Our children all have different cancers but our journeys are similar. I’ve got great work and family support, but there aren’t a lot of people I can talk to about this who really understand. I’ve found it really rewarding.”

Redkite has received an overwhelming response from other parents who have taken part in its community based support services and is seeing an increase in demand.

“Many families simply don’t know who to turn to for cancer specific support; that’s the Redkite difference,” explains Leigh Kurth. “When families contact counsellors through Telephone or Email Support they are speaking with a professional who has experience working with families affected by cancer. Families tell us how comforting it is to speak to someone who ‘gets it’,

“Our Telegroups have the added benefit of sharing and normalising the many challenges of their experience with other families going through a similar journey.”

The Wood family is still dealing with the impact of Riarne’s cancer but they are grateful for the support they have received.

“We have to have x-rays for the next five years – once every two months for the next year, then every three months after that,“ says Tania. “However, Redkite supports you through all of that, they just say ‘Call us.’ It’s wonderful knowing where to go if you need a hand.”