P.E.I. toddler battles cancer in Toronto

A two-year-old girl from Summerside, P.E.I., who has tumours in her abdomen, ribcage, skull and leg bones is undergoing a stem cell transplant in Toronto in hopes of beating the cancer.

Cammie Richard has already been through one round of chemotherapy and a 19-hour surgery to remove some of the tumours at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax.

"Now she's finishing her chemo over here. It's called conditioning chemo, and after that she'll be getting a stem cell transplant of her own stem cells that they've already collected," Melissa Hackett, Cammie's mother, told CBC News on Wednesday from her daughter's hospital room.

"It's similar to a bone marrow transplant, but they call it stem cells cause it's collected through your blood. She's been quite the trooper. She's doing great. She's tougher than the rest of us put together."

When Cammie was diagnosed, doctors said she had a 40 per cent chance of being cured of her neuroblastoma, Hackettsaid. That prognosis has not changed.

The family has set up a Facebook page to help send good wishes to Cammie. It has more than 6,500 members.

Hackett said they hope to have Cammie back at the IWK in Halifax by Dec. 15, whereshe will have more radiation treatment and be in isolation for 100 days.