Symptoms and Signs You Must Know of Childhood Cancer

Symptoms of Leukaemia in a child *childhood cancer

Hello lovelies. Today's podcast episode is going to be about dealing with symptoms and signs of your childhood cancer, leukaemia . It's a sensitive and important topic that has been triggered by recent events. We are currently at the Great Ormand Street Hospital, where certain things have brought back memories and emotions. It's crucial to address this issue because it holds significant importance.

Earlier, you weren't feeling well, but you're better now. We went for a walk and got some drinks from Starbucks. I had a raspberry lemonade, while I got an oat shake and brown espresso. I've been wanting to try the olive oil espresso, but I'm hesitant to pay for it.

My daughter was diagnosed with childhood cancer (leukaemia specifically) when she was four years old. It started when she wasn't feeling well and had general discomfort for a few weeks. There were signs before the official diagnosis that are important to share. I remember she was experiencing bone pain, particularly in my neck. Initially, I thought it was in my back, but it was actually her neck. I also recall her not wanting to go to school or nursery and feeling generally unwell.

Her nursery teachers noticed changes in my behavior as well. She became less active and disinterested in playing with others. They mentioned that she looked pale, although it wasn't evident to me or us as her parents due to my olive complexion. However, their observations raised concerns.

We went to the doctor and hospital multiple times, but it took several visits before the true cause was discovered. Doctors initially suggested that I needed more emotional support or attention. This made me question myself as a parent, but I realised it wasn't the case. One of my nursery teachers advised me to continue seeking answers because my persistent complaints indicated something was genuinely wrong.

Eventually, during one of my visits, a doctor acknowledged that there might be a problem. They conducted further tests and examinations, leading to a diagnosis. It was a challenging time, filled with uncertainty and fear. I took my child to the hospital multiple times within a span of six weeks. Looking back, it was a significant journey to reach the diagnosis.

I remember moments when you woke up in the middle of the night, seeking comfort and sleeping in our bed. At times, it was frustrating for me, as I didn't understand the cause of your pain. But I continued to advocate for you and sought answers from medical professionals.

In the end, it was crucial to trust my instincts as a parent and persist in finding the truth. It's essential for parents and caregivers to listen to their children, even if their complaints seem repetitive. This experience taught me the importance of being an advocate for my child's health and well-being.

Dealing with childhood cancer is a topic that requires careful attention and understanding. It's crucial to support those who may be facing such challenges. Remember, your voice matters, and seeking help is a sign of strength. Remember there are many people out there that can support you. Support childhood cancer #childhoodcancer #cancerawareness #leukaemia .

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hello lovelies 0:05 [Music] and in today's podcast we're going to be talking about 0:11 his diagnosis yes it's a sensitive topic it's a very important topic as well but 0:17 I think it's more memories and there's a reason why it's kind of triggered 0:22 cars we're at great all mystery hospital and you know people have like little things that they bring back so memories 0:29 and emotions so I thought it'd be nice if we talked about it because it's a it's an important thing right 0:36 um and to me it's because you're not um you haven't been feeling too well but you're better today but that's why 0:43 they've kept you and we've gone out for a walk they've told us we could go out for a walk and we've got some drinks 0:49 Starbucks raspberry lemonade and I've got my oat shake and brown espresso it's such a 0:56 long name but anyways espresso 1:02 espresso I actually want to try the olive oil ones it kind of feels weird but yeah like I 1:09 want to taste it but I don't want to pay for it 1:14 foreign 1:46 [Music] so I was diagnosed at the age of four 1:54 and um I just I was in school and I just started to not feel 100 2:03 and generally for a few but we'll say a few weeks let's say for a few weeks I 2:09 wasn't feeling 100 so you were times actually um 2:15 dates of your diagnosis so you were diagnosed back in 2017 it was the 9th of 2:22 June 2017. um as your actual diagnosis however 2:30 before you got diagnosed with swinging on the thing so weird but yeah um before 2:37 the before you got diagnosed there was obviously signs for that which is really important for 2:43 other people because you want to know how did you find out and what happened so it didn't it didn't 2:50 just happen out in the blue didn't it it didn't happen so what do you remember like I remember 2:57 I always used to be like this really active funny you've always had beans you always had energy 3:03 and then some little things started to change do you remember what it is I did 3:08 but try not to remember what I keep telling you and telling everyone this is genuinely your memory I remember 3:16 saying I had I had bone pain yeah like here I definitely remember 3:24 um I remember saying it was here you know where he used to say it was 3:29 like my back no I used to say it was your neck yeah yeah 3:35 okay well something that's what I meant somewhere here I'm not gonna exactly exactly it was a long time ago 3:44 it wasn't that long ago for you but it was very long ago not sure come on so I remember that I remember 3:52 saying I just don't feel well in general like I don't want to go to school and don't go to Nursery I mean I 3:58 like not feeling hot feeling sick just not feeling well you know when you're like I just don't feel well yeah I don't 4:05 want to go to school don't go to Nursery yeah I just remember that in general but pain wise was really just the neck pain 4:13 yeah if I'm honest with you it was neck pain and then it became 4:19 it was your legs I remember we used to have to hit you 4:26 used to say a mum when we not hit you yeah like you used to ask us to Pat you and 4:34 when we were paying you oh I remember that used to say oh it feels really nice for me thank you but I'll tell I'll tell 4:42 you what I think you're actually your Nursery teachers are the ones I was gonna say I was gonna say and 4:49 that's really cool because you you're the oldest in the school so what happened it's like you've already spent all this year at school and it was your 4:56 second year at Nursery the radio teachers already knew who what 5:02 you're like and then suddenly they started to see that they were less like active and you didn't want to play so 5:08 much um you know all of this I don't remember I know I remember 5:15 and then this is extra time for me every time my mom tells me this is 5:23 um and um you weren't eating as much and you 5:29 were kind of tired you didn't really want to play with everyone and they kept saying to me that you looked a bit pale 5:34 and the thing is I didn't really see that you looked held because you kind of have this like complexion you're kind of 5:41 olivey like I'm like you know over the years I've got a dark white and you're not 5:47 you're kind of like Mediterranean you know like you've got a color to you so I couldn't tell what pale it is 5:57 my dad's a bit darker now I'm in the middle of my age so I'm 6:02 middle of your age like I'm older okay I'm older than I was then 6:10 yeah so I'm saying my skin colors like changed a bit 6:17 [Music] 6:27 I don't really see a massive change of appetite because you're always at school 6:32 and they're always with her I didn't really see a massive difference like I thought you stopped eating but it's so 6:38 subtle I didn't even pick it up and being a bit tired now I do remember you once in Easter holiday I remember it was 6:46 April you you suddenly became really unwell like you had a temperature and 6:51 you're just not feeling great and you're run down but there was nothing wrong with you and I took you to the GP they 6:58 did some Bloods and apparently coincidentally they lost your blood results so and even your GPO 7:05 there was a b okay see how come I was and how scared she was yeah I just hope 7:10 it doesn't come back again because I'm the scary weekend um and I remember the uh GP said oh she 7:17 looks pale and I was like really so that's like the second person I said she looks well and then I also remember 7:25 you uh I remember you sweating that night 7:31 I remember that and I thought because it was Easter time I thought it was getting 7:36 hot in your room and you would just get hot and sweaty so all these are like coincidental things these are symptoms right but because of the timing I 7:44 thought it's just a coincidence I thought because it's Easter change of weather you know people get a bit more snotty a bit more sick I thought you 7:51 were coming down with something that's why you have the temperature and then I thought were you sweating I thought maybe the room was hot and that's where 7:56 you were swaying so those are the two things and then I remember you saying that you liquidating you and I kept 8:02 taking you to the doctor and the hospital do you remember how many times we went 8:08 at least seven times I took you to hospital four times 8:13 a period time about six weeks month and a half it took you about seven times I 8:20 took you to the GP three times Well I say that's quite a lot I go more now of course but I mean for a 8:27 normal person that's not love right so that's why I'm not surprised now but but 8:32 let's imagine you're an average person the average person that's enough so you went to the GP three times one of them 8:38 the digital blood tests the second time they lost them half the blood test they said oh she's low and neem she's anemic 8:44 or whatever it is but they didn't say um they the one that would have told us 8:50 that you've got something they lost that blood test and then I remember going to the 8:55 hospital several times I did an ultrasound 9:02 and then let's go to the park where 9:07 I was at nursery and my teacher said something happened and then my teacher said to me 9:13 then he took me somewhere and I just said don't do this oh no no so one of your teachers said to 9:19 me when I took you you already several times to the hospital and I told them about your neck because you kept saying my neck hurts me my neck hurts me and I 9:26 kept taking you and they're like oh there's nothing wrong with your neck and they scanned it they said there's 9:32 nothing wrong with her neck she's fine did she injure herself I said no the teacher said to me one of your Nursery teachers said it doesn't matter what 9:39 they say you keep insisting there was something wrong with tear 9:45 even if they're saying there's nothing wrong I'm sure there's something because your child wouldn't keep complaining 9:51 about the same thing over and over again and if it's something she said don't feel shy because children because 9:56 children usually tend to makeup stuff because they're they're children yeah I don't go to nursery and they have their 10:03 little moments yeah but if I was a smart children though I wouldn't be complaining about the same 10:09 thing I would change it up I'd say one day it's my neck next day be my ankle well that's why it's white that's right 10:15 that's why it's different this one you can tell it's actually real because they're repeating the same thing same 10:21 thing over again and the thing the other thing that made me realize is something wrong you know 10:27 how kids like to copy the parents and stuff like that if I had been always complaining about my neck all the time 10:33 then you would maybe have learned it from me or picked up for me but no one me or your dad no one's ever said used 10:40 to say they've got neck pain so that was another thing that made me realize actually maybe there's something wrong and thanks to the nursery teacher 10:48 um advice I I went back and I insisted but on that day I 10:54 remember I was taking you oh um one of the things I remember the doctor said to me which was really upset they 11:03 said oh maybe Tia needs more emotional support mainly psychologically she's not 11:10 getting enough attention wasn't too much attention because she has a special needs I never felt that way I used to I 11:17 used to love my brother I used to don't get me wrong I used to find my brother annoying but I didn't used to yeah 11:23 oh she's jealous because your your other son a special need and he has all the 11:29 attention from her so maybe she's yeah I used to find him very annoying they used to think that you know we're 11:36 trying to get my attention and that's why you keep saying this stuff I lost my 11:41 balance and they were saying that's why you were trying to do this it's a way of you trying to get attention 11:48 um but now looking back at it I think that was really annoying because because I don't know it's so wrong 11:55 with my brother now today is opposal jealous I'm saying like no but 12:01 the the thing is the hospitals they didn't even bother doing like some blood tests to find out what was going to 12:07 related to hospital why would you bring up something so random and then they said one of the other things they said 12:12 oh she has growing pain growing pain at four years old are you serious what kind of growing pain I get growing peanut 12:19 like this age at 10. yeah but not like four so then they made me feel really bad 12:25 because I thought I actually thought I was a bad mama and I thought oh my God I'm giving all the attention to Ryan and 12:32 I'm not giving any attention to Tia and that's why what made you think what made you realize actually no that's not the 12:38 reason I tell you one of my last visits and doctors the 12:44 hospital were getting a bit tired of me coming up every week saying complaining bringing you to a e and saying there's 12:50 something wrong with them they say there's nothing wrong with her and then the last doctor said that on the one of 12:55 my visits I said oh I think because she has a special need brother she's probably just playing up and she's just 13:01 you know whatever that made me really upset and on the day the following day or a couple of days later you woke up in 13:07 the middle of the night and you join my bed you kept sleeping recently because um recently during that time before we 13:13 found out what's wrong with you you kept sleeping in our bed me and you're that and you kept wanting to 13:21 sleep with us and I was getting really like a bit frustrated because you kept waking up complaining you've got pain 13:27 you kept sleeping with us and I was like okay getting tired of this and I'll be taking hospital and everyone says 13:32 there's nothing wrong so then I thought maybe the doctor's all right maybe she just wants my attention so I got you up 13:37 it was about five in the morning I said to you get dressed here pretty uniform month and I said I said look I'm just 13:44 gonna take her me and her just gonna hang out have breakfast together before she started Starbucks before I go to 13:50 work Starbucks but have breakfast together and we spent some me time I mean like me 13:56 and her quality time because I thought maybe that's what you need because that's what they told me I'm gonna be driving with you 14:06 with you and then you fell asleep in the car and I thought oh that's a bit strange you usually hardly sleep that's 14:13 a bit weird I hate to sleep so then you woke up and then you looked at me and you went 14:19 Mommy I'm really sorry Mommy but we're gonna have to go to the hospital a e because I 14:27 really think I see me remember that he said to me I don't I don't feel well lonely and I know you hate being like we 14:34 spend a long time but I think they really need to see me one more there's something wrong with me 14:39 and you said that and my heart started to raise and I was panicking and I 14:45 remember doing a massive u-turn on the road luckily the roads were empty and I went because it was early in the morning 14:51 no it drove really quickly to any and I picked you up and I can lifted you and I ran into any 14:58 actually my luck on the shift that day the doctor that was there was American doctor and may 15:05 God give this doctor the best life I made Victor if you're watching this I've got a name I remember 15:12 going in to see her now if you watch this and you recognize my mum or me this is a podcast 15:19 yeah this is dedicated to you dedicated to you like she's amazing I remember that she coming in and I was like 15:26 Tia keeps complaining your colleagues have been telling me that they think it's psychological because she has a 15:32 brother blah blah blah and then she was like rewind 15:37 you as you were driving you you called my you you called my teacher 15:47 no no no no that's not them yeah you're very still with that fly I'm yours you 15:53 must be 15:59 you're skipping the story sorry I'm going behind and 16:04 I know so what happened I said to her oh your doctor's your I've been to Amy 16:10 before several times and she's like how many times have you gone to Texas oh seven times and she said how long six 16:16 weeks and she's looking at all your medical records she's like you know we never had to here before this like the 16:22 past six weeks we never really have that history of her she's never come she's never been sick she's not even had a 16:28 cold before she's not having food before there's nothing she only comes in because she's complaining I'm like she's 16:34 only recently started to complain but she'd been really fit and healthy she's never like even had like an infection 16:39 before and she's like I think that's something not right I should have said it doesn't make sense to me I think I 16:45 need to do some Bloods and she goes I'm really sorry that we've not done any 16:51 bloods on them before but the fact that your daughter said that she's only four years old she said that there's 16:56 something wrong that means there is something wrong just because we can't see it it doesn't mean anything exist 17:09 and she said in the next few days someone will sit here and she goes there 17:14 might be something wrong with her maybe in the bones like maybe some sort I thought oh maybe she has like 17:20 a bony infection or something I don't know she said all in a few days we'll find out and we'll call you back I said 17:27 okay I drove took you after she did the Bloods and then I dropped her off to the nursery 17:33 and then um apparently you fell asleep in the 17:38 nursery uh I never nap you don't believe it 17:44 in fell asleep and they gave you Corn Flakes Coco Pops I even remember 17:49 I'm saying I've never napped in general Nursery like other children they're always like 17:55 go to a nap Corner having a little nap yeah Auntie sleep 18:01 my eyes cannot close my eyes cannot close till today 18:06 we're in the playground by the way for all the weird noises but um 18:12 yeah what else and then they yeah then you fell asleep and then I got a 18:19 call from the hospital and then the doctor goes to me we have 18:25 um the parents of Tia Ali I was like yep and they're like okay and the doctor that I saw the American one she was like 18:32 I think you're gonna expect a call from a professor uh he needs to speak to you I said 18:38 Professor what professor she was like I don't know there's something about her blogs and they need to speak to you and 18:44 I said okay that's a bit weird I said okay fine so I waited and then an hour later a 18:51 half an hour later I got a call from a professor whoever his name was um 18:56 professor I forgot his name he was friends well 19:03 professor we send you our love 19:12 and then uh this professor called mango speak okay yes we saw something on the 19:19 blood and we're just here right now and I started choosing nursery and he's like and does she live alone I was like oh 19:25 she has a brother who's special needs she live alone 19:31 he's like okay where is your other son I was like oh he's the nursery too he's like okay can you please make 19:37 arrangements to collect the kids and I need here to come to me right away and bring her up to hematology and I said 19:44 okay fine no problem uh do you want to tell me what's going on he's like no more talk for me I was like okay fine so 19:50 then I called the nursery and I said oh um some wreck it I said uh I the 19:57 hospital called me and they said that I need to pick up Tia and I need to go to hematology 20:05 um and yeah and I need to go pick up okay do me a favor she's like don't look 20:11 up anything okay don't use a phone don't use the internet don't do nothing she 20:17 said to me I'll bring Tia overall she said I'll bring Ryan over you go collect Brian I think she said something like 20:23 that she goes I'll drive and I'll bring you to you and you just go collect Brian and I'll meet you at the hospital do me 20:30 a favour promise me you won't look up you should win a cup of what 20:35 haematologist I said so because they said to me to go to hematology girl I have no idea what he told you 20:44 no haematology means blood disorders luckily I didn't because that would have 20:49 straight away I would have known yeah and I would have passed out I would have had to pick up Ryan and I could 20:56 have done a car crash and I would have like it would have been horrible so I don't know what happened to me I didn't 21:01 look up this video podcast is also dedicated to Miss Beckett yeah my 21:08 Nursery teacher and then 21:13 I go up there and then they told me to come in to the room they did more bloods on you again and 21:20 then the doctor said to me this professor and all my family came all my family came yeah because they said to me 21:27 they said to me oh we need to we need to adapt to come and then I started to panic and I was like oh 21:32 my dad and so then um everyone in my family somehow found out 21:37 and out everyone turned up in the hospital which is so bizarre um and then we're all waiting outside 21:44 yes well the doctor the first spoke to me before daddy came and then he said to me uh Tia has anemia 21:51 and I said anemia yeah 21:58 anemia okay and I was like yeah so are you serious like you dragged me all 22:04 the way here you told me she has an email I have an email what's your point I was like what's the big deal it's like what why does she have anemia I said 22:12 you're asking me why she has an email I'm not the doctor I don't know why there are three reasons 22:19 one is either they have an infection two either it's genetic or three 22:26 it's something not too great 22:34 which one did she have and he was like well we need to rule out but she doesn't have the other two I said okay well then 22:40 rule it out and he's like yeah but we don't think she has the other two I said I said so what do you think she has what's this other thing it's like you 22:47 know something bad and I said well I don't know what you're talking about what is this bad 22:52 thing and if you're not sure then why do you keep saying it for us in the room he's like first of all do the 23:00 a successful do the um uh I said first we will do the um like 23:08 do the thing do the blood test and then let me know what it is and then they said okay fine 23:14 um I'll find out and I'll let you know but we need daddy to come I said okay 23:20 fine and then daddy came and armor was like what's going on I was like I don't know 23:25 I bet bubble is panicking that crazy and then I was like they said she's anemic and I said to 23:32 them that you're anemic too so I think it bothers anymore and they said oh maybe it's from Boba I said exactly 23:39 right why are they making a big deal and calling us here for what's what's a bit of Sony summing an email anyways I went 23:45 yesterday came and then there was like three of them there was Anna the CNS Anna Carrera um dedicated to Anna 23:53 Cabrera and your doctor and then Daddy and me and then we did the blood test again and I'm 24:00 sorry to tell you but it's confirmed about Tia 24:07 has look here counselor 24:14 and what did you do uh cried obviously and then your dad cry oh 24:22 oh on levels I just outside 24:30 having a good time coloring and playing and everyone else in your family was outside and I was like oh I think I remember 24:37 that as well you went in the room no not remember you crying I remember like that it's that time 24:46 all right anyways I cried and yet daddy cried and he hugged me I felt so sorry did anybody else cry 24:53 because I know like my auntie was there well they're still outside so I'm just 24:58 talking about when we were in the room I just felt like what the hell like what you mean she has 25:04 cancer like I've never had anyone I've never known anyone with cancer 25:09 so how can a kid have cancer how does this make sense like what the hell happened like how 25:14 I was like so um like yeah it was so confused because I 25:23 don't I've never experienced it with anyone in my families or friends so I don't know what to expect but I was 25:28 shocked because it was my child so then your Dad cried and I cried then 25:34 we wiped our tears and then we're gonna have to keep her and take 25:39 her to Great orange tree in a few days to start treatment they'll tell you everything around the street 25:45 and then I said okay and then they were like making sure that we're okay UK okay I was like yeah we're okay and then they 25:52 said okay we'll leave these alone and then we came out and then everyone said what's going on what's going on 25:59 like all my brothers and sisters my mom and dad everyone 26:04 strong and then I said they said she has cancer and everyone started to cry 26:12 cry oh my God everyone yeah crying and then they called everyone 26:20 else and for the next 24 hours or 48 hours 26:26 your friends we took over the entire floor because people kept coming in and 26:32 visiting and Grave they cry and then we would me and me and your dad stop crying after 26:39 we only cried in that room and we never cried again because everyone else kept crying and we kept telling everyone this 26:44 is okay she'll be quiet it's okay she'll be fine Grandma kept crying every every two 26:50 seconds she'll stop and cry and then stop and then cry and then stop and then cry and lello would cry and then stop and then cry it was just yeah 26:59 and I just remember everyone kept coming in on some active crying my cousin 27:04 she gave you a bath I remember she was weeping and she was bathing you 27:09 she was professional I remember how did you do you remember 27:16 anything do you remember having lots of presents at least do you remember me telling you 27:23 telling me what that you've got when did you realize you had a female 27:30 I don't know you don't remember no so when you're 27:35 young and you kept getting treatment or do you think the treatment was for what can you just tell me that I can't 27:41 remember obviously it was for a reason but I can't remember when you told me do you remember when we went to a great 27:46 wall mystery and then they had to put candy bars to give me treatment I remember that I told you your blood wasn't working remember probably 27:53 I think maybe that's what you thought that's what you thought it was yeah but do you remember telling me I 28:00 had cancer yeah can you tell me what what happened I told you they said you 28:06 need to tell her so I sat you down and remember I said to you too I need to explain to you uh your blood apparently 28:14 isn't working properly and for that reason um we're gonna have to give you some 28:19 really strong medicine to make your blood learn how to do the right thing so that it won't stop doing the naughty 28:26 stuff like you know and he said okay I think you're so young and you didn't care you're like yeah whatever just do 28:34 it yeah I remember you having steroids as it got older it used to get more 28:40 annoying and I used to understand it more and I think when I got older they explained it again and then I was like 28:46 oh okay cancer and I realized I recognize the name cancer it's big 28:52 it's not what I thought it was anyways do you still think it's big yeah 28:59 it doesn't defeat your life takes up a lot of your life but it 29:05 doesn't become your life it doesn't become your life but it does 29:12 take up a lot of your life though it takes a lot of time because you spend a lot of time doing 29:17 things related to it isn't it anyways 29:23 yep that's right that's my memory 29:32 We're not gonna do a podcast about it because it's gonna be like three seconds long because I don't remember anything 29:40 you remember little clips of like what you were doing I don't think you really had much 29:48 uh that's what I meant so this your feelings didn't develop then did it 29:53 it developed afterwards I guess I think when you relapse that's when you 29:59 started to understand properly I was like nine so yeah nine no eight eight 30:05 and a half yeah eight and a half I think that's when things started to make sense 30:11 to you right when you relapse how did you feel it 30:18 angry are you angry angry and I must say I remember I 30:26 remember being worse I'm only saying this because I remember my relapse more 30:33 being it it'd be worse when I relapsed worse 30:42 for me 30:47 and all the drugs being in hospital people just got my nerves more like 30:55 I just wanted to be left alone yeah I think it makes a difference because 31:01 you're older when you're young you don't quite get what's going on it's just like yeah whatever we all wish we were 31:07 younger when we're going into a hard time so that's true because I don't remember 31:13 all of this stuff all of the stuff that you explained I wish I had remembered like everybody's 31:20 reaction and stuff like that like interesting stuff but I don't wanna I don't wanna know like the bad stuff 31:29 short story long that's how I got 31:35 cancer leukaemia be specific yep screaming is very annoying 31:42 so yeah I think we're we're done explaining and we need to end this for people 31:49 stop crashing it gate crashing our podcast okay 31:57 bye lovelies