Little girl’s ‘growing pains’ were bone cancer
MUM RAISING AWARENESS OF RARE DISEASE AFTER DAUGHTER IS GIVEN THE ALL-CLEAR
A 10-YEAR-OLD girl was diagnosed with bone cancer a year after she was told she had ‘growing pains.’
Abigail Frechou was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in June 2019 – a rare type of cancer that begins in the bones. She first started suffering with pain in her legs a year earlier, but her mum said a GP told them it was nothing to worry about.
The youngster, from Shaw in Oldham, had to undergo intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment as well as surgery to remove the right side of her pelvis where the cancer started.
She is now in recovery and has been given the all-clear. Mum Ellie Frechou now hopes to raise awareness of her daughter’s condition. She also wants to encourage parents to trust their instincts when their children are poorly.
Abigail, a pupil at Rushcroft Primary School, first started suffering with pains in her legs in June 2018 – but, despite the doctor’s assessment, the pain got worse.
“It was the following May when she started having horrific pain,” Ellie told the M.E.N. “She was really sporty and fit at the time. She had come from home school in a lot of pain. The GP said at the time that it wasn’t an emergency so not to take her to A&E.”
The following Monday, Ellie took Abigail into North Manchester General Hospital. As a pediatric nurse, she had a ‘funny feeling’ that something seriously wrong.
Abigail, who was nine at the time, had an x-ray and doctors diagnosed her with an irritable hip. She was then sent home.
“She was in agony, it was absolutely horrific,” Ellie said.
The following day, a consultant radiologist called Ellie telling the family to come back to hospital immediately. He took her and her husband into a private room and said that something had been found on the x-ray. At the time, the family were told it was either a lesion or bone cancer.
Abigail was diagnosed after six weeks with Ewing sarcoma – a rare cancer which mostly affects children and young people under 20.
The tumour was in her right pelvis, but had spread to under her collar bone. She had surgery to remove part of her pelvis and underwent chemotherapy at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and radiotherapy at The Christie. She finished treatment in March and has now been given the all-clear by doctors. “Physically it’s impacted her,” Ellie said. “She had to learn walk again and is now classed as disabled. But she can dance, she can jump around, she just gets on with it. She is amazing and so positive.”
Abigail, who has been shielding due to Covid-19, is looking forward to going back to school in September. The family are supporting Sarcoma Awareness Month, a project launched by Children with Cancer UK and the Bone Cancer Research Trust. The ‘Bone Cancer Awareness Initiative’ aims to reduce delays in diagnosis.
“We want doctors to always think at the back of their heads that it could be cancer because this could save lives,” Ellie said.
“We do believe that if she had a diagnosis earlier then it wouldn’t have spread as much. No question is a daft question. You know your own child. If you think something is wrong, get it checked out.”
Dr Zoe Davison, head of research, information and support at the Bone Cancer Research Trust, said: “GPs currently receive no dedicated training on the signs and symptoms of bone cancer, despite 10-year survival rates of around only 50 per cent.
“Through this 100-day initiative we will equip GPs and other key healthcare professionals with the knowledge they need to make accurate and timely referrals so that patients are given the best chance of survival.”