A chance discovery
Thanks to social media, Laura Handley, 30, from Tenbury Wells, was able to save her girl on time…
Feeding my newborn son Tristan, I noticed his older sister Tazmin, then one, toppling over. ‘Clumsy little thing,’ I smiled, helping her up.
Her legs were covered in bruises, but I put it down to her constantly falling over.
But a few weeks later, the bruising was worse, nearly covering her legs and bottom.
She’d also developed a rash
of red, blistery spots and would sweat a lot while she slept.
Despite this, she seemed well, was always running about.
And I knew rashes in little ones are often harmless.
So me and my partner, Chris, 33, thought no more of it.
Until 5 July – when I was scrolling through Facebook…
Someone had shared a story of a boy who’d died from leukaemia a week after his diagnosis, despite showing no symptoms.
Intrigued, I searched online for leukaemia symptoms – and started to panic. Bruising, rashes, sweating… Filled with dread, I looked at Tazmin playing with her toys.
She seemed fine – but so had the boy in the story.
‘I’m taking her to the GP,’ I told Chris and my mum.
‘I’m sure it’s nothing,’ Mum reassured me.
But the GP referred us to Worcestershire Royal Hospital, where tests revealed the truth.
‘Tazmin has acute myeloid leukaemia,’ a doctor said.
I burst into tears, devastated.
Transferred to Birmingham
Children’s Hospital, Tazmin had a bone-marrow biopsy, which revealed she also had myelodysplasia (MDS).
A rare blood cancer, MDS occurs when the bone marrow doesn’t produce enough healthy blood cells.
‘It’s likely the
Her hair had to be shaved
cause of her leukaemia,’ the doctor added. MDS is most
common in people aged around 75, so why did my little girl have it? On 19 July, the leukaemia diagnosis was confirmed. Doctors said a bonemarrow transplant was her best hope. First though, she needed two rounds of chemotherapy to improve her chances.
Soon after the first round, we made the upsetting decision to shave off Tazmin’s beautiful blonde hair. We didn’t want her to be scared seeing it fall out.
She got a bit upset as a nurse shaved her head – and, before we knew it, we were all in tears.
But, throughout her treatment, Tazmin was so brave.
And her fun, bubbly personality kept me and Chris going throughout it all.
Tazmin had the bone-marrow transplant in October and was allowed home after 30 days.
Her brothers Calum, 12, and baby Tristan, and sisters Imogen, 11, and Bethany, nine, were over the moon to have her back. And that December, the bone-marrow biopsy results came in. ‘She’s in remission!’ I cried to Chris, overcome with relief. Tazmin will need to have regular checkups for life, but she’s doing great. Her hair’s growing back and she’s still full of beans! I do wonder what might have happened if I hadn’t seen that story on Facebook. But the important thing is that our brave girl is still here. She’s one tough little cookie.