It was September 2007, Abi was 6, just going in to Year 2. Her little brother Tom was in nursery and doing really well. Abi’s teacher had raised concerns during Year 1 about her concentration and that she wasn’t doing as well as she should have. We’d been to the GP too, after we’d noticed that she had started to tilt her head as she went through doors, she’d been a really good swimmer but had started struggling, we were told she had dyspraxia.
Looking back I see so many clues as to what was happening. Her eyes shook and she complained that she couldn’t read properly, we were told it was mild and not to worry. She was losing skills, had no energy, and could no longer walk in a straight line, again, nothing serious.
Eventually, 4 months on, we saw a doctor who decided that they needed more information, an MRI scan was booked for three weeks time, the day after the schools went back. I remember crying when they said she needed a scan, I knew somewhere deep down that my baby was seriously ill and I was terrified. The day of the scan came, the results were terrible. Masses in her brain, emergency surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, short term side effects, long term side effects and no guarantees.
My heart breaks when I hear of newly diagnosed children, for them, their parents, their siblings and their friends.
I remember feeling so isolated and lonely, like I was the only mum facing it, like ours was the only family trying to hold things together during grueling treatment. I know now that we’re not, there are hundreds of families living with childhood cancer, sadly so many of them have similar stories to tell about misdiagnosis and delays in treatment.
Abi is doing well, she has support at school, loves playing with her brothers and 17 months on she is in remission. I feel excited and saddened when hear of new, better, treatment options. Excited for the children to come and saddened that Abi was a little early and that a desperate lack of funding is slowing progress.
The Be Child Cancer Aware Campaign is so important. As parents we need to make sure that our GPs know the symptoms of childhood cancer, and that we all know what to look for, that we have the confidence to ask for help if our children need us to. We also need families to know that they are not alone, that they don’t face this journey without support from others.
Our kids are gorgeous, brave and frankly stunning, but no different to yours. Childhood Cancer can affect any child, any family. We all need to be aware of it to give us the best possible chance of beating it.
