Fighting Back... Giving Back
Millie will be working as a nurse on the very same ward that saved her life…
Iwas just 2 when my mum Tracy noticed I was off my food, tired and grouchy. ‘It’s just a bug,’ the GP reassured her.
Only Mum’s instincts told her otherwise, and so when I began coming out in bruises, I was given some blood tests.
‘Millie has got leukaemia,’ a doctor said when the test results came in.
Back in 1997, survival rates weren’t as good as today and my cancer was advanced.
Mum and my dad Murray were worried out of their mind as I was whisked into hospital and began treatment within 26 hours of being diagnosed.
‘You’ve got poorly blood and you need medicine to make you better,’ Mum told me.
As a child, I just accepted it.
But by Christmas that same year, doctors prepared my parents for the worst.
‘The chemo isn’t working, you’ll have to consider the quality of Millie’s life over quantity,’ one warned. There was nothing more they could do. Unthinkable.
I was kept in hospital having treatment and allowed home for a few hours on Christmas Day to be with my brother Harry, now 20, and sister, Daisey, 24.
But I was too poorly to open my presents or play with them.
Then one of the doctors suggested upping my medication and trialling a new treatment…
Like family
My parents jumped at the chance and slowly it seemed to work.
For the following 18 months, I was practically living at Ipswich Hospital having treatment.
The doctors and nurses soon became like family – and the colourful Children’s Ward was my second home.
I really loved the old rocking horse that they had in one of the corridors, plus the friendly faces of the staff, and the familiarity of the patterned bedsheets and curtains. For breakfast, I liked tucking into hot milk and Weetabix, and eating ravioli straight from the tin for my lunch! When I was 4½, I stopped having treatment.
I’d managed to beat the leukaemia!
I still needed regular checkups, though. And every time I went, I looked forward to seeing all the doctors and nurses who had become more like family to me. After five years of being clear, doctors said I had as much chance of
Doctors told my parents to prepare for the worst…
developing cancer as any regular person.
A second chance at life... Treatment had left its effects on me... I had hearing loss and hit puberty later than most girls.
But apart from that, I led a pretty normal life.
And it was all thanks to the medics on that Children’s Ward. I got good GCSES, too. And when I was picking what A-levels I’d like to do, I made a decision.
‘I want to be a nurse like the ones who treated me,’ I told my mum and dad.
They were right behind me as I enrolled on a Health and Social BTEC. Then, when
I was 18, I began studying at the University of Suffolk for a degree in Child Health Nursing.
Not long after I started there, one of our tutors asked us all why we’d decided to study children’s nursing.
‘I had cancer when I was younger,’ I explained. ‘And I had such a brilliant experience with all the doctors and nurses I wanted to follow in their footsteps.’
She looked a little bit concerned, though.
‘Are you sure it’s the right thing for you?’ she asked, worried that it might bring back too many traumatic memories. ‘Absolutely,’ I replied. The truth is, while it must’ve been extremely traumatic for my parents, I had nothing but happy memories of the hospital and staff.
So I got stuck into my degree and couldn’t believe it when my personal tutor turned out to be my old oncology nurse!
‘I guess I don’t need to ask you much about yourself,’ she smiled, asking me how my mum and dad, brother and sister all were.
She must’ve treated so many children, it was sweet that she remembered me.
Not that I got any special treatment mind you!
The course was broken up into 50 per cent practical and 50 per cent theory.
So it wasn’t very long before I found myself back on the Children’s Ward in Ipswich Hospital.
As soon as I stepped inside, memories came flooding back.
‘I used to love that rocking horse!’ I gasped, amazed that it was still there.
I remembered some of the rooms I’d been in, and some of the staff were even the same.
Instead of making me sad, it just filled me with happiness.
And, more than anything, I wanted to make sure other children who were fighting cancer were left with positive memories like me.
Make them smile
It wasn’t always easy seeing little ones who were so poorly.
But I knew better than most, that no matter how unwell they were, they were still just kids.
If I could make them smile, I’d done a good day’s work.
I’ve finished my degree now and am due to start nursing full time on 1 October.
I’ll be working at Ipswich Hospital, sometimes back on that very same ward where my life was saved.
I can’t wait to get started. Thankfully, survival rates for leukaemia are much better than when I was young, so hopefully I’ll be able to help a lot of kids beat the disease.
Just like I did.
now: i can’t wait to start my new job!