Mother issues heartbreaking plea after doctors dismissed her daughter's cancer symptoms as 'growing pains'
The family are sharing their story in support of Great Ormond Street Hospital's Children’s Cancer Centre appeal
Warning: This article contains discussion of cancer which some readers may find distressing
A mum has issued a heartbreaking plea after her young daughter was told she was suffering from growing pains, only for it to later be diagnosed as cancer.
Stay-at-home mum Madeleine Shipp recalled how her daughter Aubrey had started complaining of leg pain back in January.
The concerned parents took the five-year-old to visit her GP, where explanations such as growing pains or muscle soreness after practising the splits at school were suggested.
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"You take her to the doctors, it’s pain in her leg, she’s five, so she’s growing, right? We just all thought it was growing pains," Madeleine explained.
"She actually did the splits at school, so we also thought she’d pulled a muscle in her leg."
However, the family would realise it was something much more sinister when the youngster began to develop further symptoms later in the year.
In April, Aubrey developed a distended stomach, which the GP said was a blockage in her bowel and prescribed laxatives. But a few days later, she would wake up covered 'head to toe in spots' before vomiting blood, prompting Madeleine to take her to hospital.
Aubrey was then taken to a haematology doctor, who confirmed the youngster had a form of cancer, known as acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).
A rare form of cancer, ALL attacks the body's blood and bone marrow. According to the NHS, symptoms include: pain in bones and joints, fatigue, bruising more easily, swollen glands and a swollen stomach.
Symptoms are not always obvious at first and can also be similar to other conditions.
Aubrey was then transferred to the paediatric intensive care unit at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) where her diagnosis was confirmed, before undergoing a course of chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
"I was very sad, very confused, and I started crying and shouting," Madeleine recalled, explaining that her daughter had been 'so poorly' and in need of a blood transfusion, antibiotics and multiple cannulas inserted.
“Sometimes it doesn’t feel real. You don’t think it’s going to happen to your kids – but it does and it just catches you off guard."
After a week of combatting the infections ravaging Aubrey's body, she was able to begin chemotherapy and immunotherapy, with her being allowed to return home in May.
Now aged six, Aubrey is approaching the end of her second round of chemo and will soon move on to maintenance treatment, which will last for a year and a half.
Meanwhile, Madeleine has shared her appreciation for the role of Great Ormond Street in saving her daughter's life, saying that neither she or Aubrey would be here today without their support.
"We are very lucky that we have the NHS in the UK, and we are very lucky that we’ve got hospitals like GOSH that support families as much as they support children," she said.
"There’s no way she would have been able to survive without every single team working together – Broomfield’s prompt diagnosis and then GOSH supplying all the treatments she needed," she continued. "If there are any other parents going through this, please reach out for help."
"GOSH has been a lifeline for us," Madeleine's partner, and Aubrey's father, James added. "The care from the doctors and nurses, and the way the Play team kept her smiling even during the hardest days, is something we’ll never forget."
You can find out more about Great Ormond Street Hospital and the ongoing charity campaign to raise funds for a new children’s cancer centre here.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
Brenna Cooper