A Forres toddler whose battle with cancer rallied thousands across the north-east to join in a fundraising effort will embark on her second trip abroad for pioneering treatment on Monday.
More than £125,000 was raised to help three-year-old Eileidh Paterson receive drugs unavailable in this country.
After months of gruelling therapy she conquered the disease in late June, and in July she underwent an inaugural bout of therapy in America to prevent it from returning.
The youngster will now return to Michigan’s Helen DeVos hospital for a second course of medication, during which time she will be tested to ensure she remains cancer-free.
Eileidh was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma, an aggressive childhood cancer, last May.
Four out of five children who beat the condition suffer a relapse – and this spring Eileidh’s mum Gail launched a crusade to ensure her daughter could benefit from advanced procedures designed to keep the illness at bay.
Community efforts spread far and wide and the six-figure sum was raised in less than three months.
Ms Paterson yesterday spoke of her anxiety in advance of next week’s tests.
She said: “As much as it’s great going to America, and Eileidh loves it, there is still that constant worry of what the scan is going to show, and I can’t relax until we get those results back.
“We will be there for a week, and there are a number of different treatments taking place over that time.”
On Thursday Eileidh will be injected with a radioactive dye which will cling to any cancerous cells in her body, and scans will reveal whether she is still free of the disease.
The Patersons will return to America every 12 weeks for the next two years to complete eight courses of therapy.
Though Eileidh still has to undergo numerous procedures to help her remain healthy, since getting the all-clear she has been able to sample the life of a typical toddler.
She recently welcomed a friend she made at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital to her Forres home for her first ever sleep-over.
As four-year-old Brooke Masson suffers from cystic fibrosis she, like Eileidh, is prone to infections.
But a positive side-effect of this is that the two youngsters make perfect playmates.
Ms Paterson said: “It was one of the first times Eileidh got to be a normal little girl, and she had a brilliant time.
“She was so excited to have Brooke stay and the pair of them had such a good time – it has done Eileidh a world of good.”