The signs and symptoms of childhood cancer are often similar to other childhood illnesses.
Although it’s not usually cancer don’t be afraid to ask for further tests if you think there is something really wrong with your child.
Here one of our Gold mums Selina* shares her family’s diagnosis experience.
“Back in June 2022 Joseph* (then 8) was feeling very sleepy and struggling to get up at the usual time. He seemed fine in himself but was lethargic. He’s always been a bit of a silent sufferer and will never tell us when something’s wrong, and we only found out after his cancer diagnosis that he had also been suffering from back pain.
Joseph developed a temperature, we were managing it at home but it wouldn’t go away. Doctors gave us an antibiotics prescription over the phone and he finished the course but was still getting temperatures.
I asked the doctor for a full blood test and the results said his white cell count was really low. The GP said it could be because his body was fighting a virus and said they’d repeat the blood test in a fortnight.”
A follow-up blood test showed his white cell count had gone even lower and Joseph was referred to Southend Hospital.
The family were told he was very neutropenic [had a low white blood cell count], and that if he got another fever he would need to come in for IV antibiotics.
“They suspected his white blood cell count was so low because a virus had taken its toll and was taking a long time to shift. He got another temperature, had IV antibiotics at Southend Hospital and was discharged once he was 48 hours clear of a temperature.
Then a couple of weeks later he came down with another fever and we ended up staying at Southend Hospital for three weeks as the temperature wouldn’t shift. There were no beds available at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) at the time so Southend Hospital did various investigations, and they were in contact with UCLH and GOSH.
The doctors thought maybe he had an autoimmune disease or something linked to anaemia.
They had ruled out cancer and he had a lumbar puncture as a final test before he was due to be transferred to GOSH for more investigations.
Strangely enough after he had a lumbar puncture he was finally fever-free and it looked like we had our little old Joseph back, but my husband Dave* still took him to GOSH as planned.
Consultants at GOSH said they suspected it was leukaemia and would do a bone marrow biopsy to confirm. Joseph didn’t know what it meant but saw Dave’s face and knew it was serious.
Throughout his time in Southend Hospital Dave had said to Joseph we were warriors, we were going to keep fighting whatever it was.
Now he was trying to hold it together and Joseph was reminding him, “Remember Dad, we’re warriors.” It makes me cry even now thinking about it.”
Joseph was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
“Our world came crashing down. I honestly thought I was having a nightmare and I kept pinching myself thinking I would wake up. I even thought they might have got his results mixed up with someone else.”
Two years on, Joseph has nearly finished treatment.
Gold Geese has booked two nights away for the family at Chessington World of Adventures to celebrate and mark his 11th birthday.
Selina adds,
“Nobody ever truly understands what it’s like unless they have a child who goes through it too. It feels very cruel for children to get cancer, this sort of stuff happens at the end of someone’s life, not the beginning.”
A huge thank you to Selina for generously sharing her story, we really appreciate it.
You can read about the signs and symptoms of childhood cancer here.
*names have been changed to respect privacy
