TODDLER WINNING CANCER FIGHT
LEVA Stewart’s mum and dad were distraught when their two-year-old daughter’s swollen tummy turned out to be a rare form of cancer in her abdomen.
Now, after months of chemotherapy and surgery to treat a 10cm tumour, the gorgeous Perthshire girl has been chosen to launch a special awards scheme that recognises the courage of Scots youngsters with cancer.
Leva – who turns three on Friday and will soon start four weeks of radiotherapy – has received a Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens Star Award for her remarkable courage during a tough fight back to health.
Her parents, Roxanne Hausrath, 30, and Adam Stewart, 30, of Blackford, Perthshire, are hugely proud of their little girl. Roxanne said: “Leva is our star, remaining incredibly bright, bubbly, confident and caring through everything.
“Our lives changed overnight when Leva was diagnosed with cancer and we had no control over that.
“Leva’s third birthday will be special. It will be a chance to get everyone together who has supported us through the most traumatic year of our lives and say thank you.
“We’ve had amazing support from friends and family, and Leva’s care in hospital has been outstanding.”
Roxanne, a dental nurse, recalls vividly the moment their lives were turned upside down on April 26 after an ultrasound scan at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee revealed the tumour in Leva’s abdomen.
Roxanne said: “That was the first big shock. We’d taken Leva to the doctor as her tummy had swollen up and was hurting her. She’d even started holding her tummy to support it like a pregnant woman would do when she went to pick something up. I’d noticed the veins in her tummy were extended and blue, which raised alarm bells, too.”
Leva was sent to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh for more tests.
On May 8, the family were told that she had rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer which affects particular types of muscle cells and is diagnosed in about 60 children in the UK every year. Doctors explained the tumour was getting so large that it was pressing on one of her kidneys, and Leva started the first of nine cycles of chemotherapy.
She lost her hair, was reluctant to eat and felt so unwell she struggled to sit up. A scan after the first round of chemo showed the tumour had grown by 6cm.
Roxanne said: “The doctors explained that the tumour had grown so large in such a short space of time and was now affecting Leva’s kidneys and lungs. Leva needed emergency surgery.”
On June 27, Leva went through the seven-hour operation. It was a huge relief when the surgeon explained it had been a success and 99 per cent of the tumour had been removed.
Roxanne said: “Leva had been a very strong wee lady all through the surgery. The tumour had been attached to her bladder so they’d had to take a small part of her bladder away but mended it well. They’d only been unable to remove a small part which was attached to her bowel. It was incredible for us to hear that they’d got so much of the tumour out. Leva was out of intensive care in 48 hours and turned a corner treatment-wise.
“Very soon she was sitting up in bed, laughing and playing. Now the