One family received the worst news after their toddler’s unusual symptoms were later found to be cancer.
Ava Bolton, three, had bruising around her eyes and started walking with a limp around her third birthday at Christmas time. Soon, she became sickly, pale and lethargic.
Her parents, Scott and Natalie, both 34, initially thought it was a virus, but when her symptoms didn’t clear, they got her an emergency GP appointment, and were referred to their local hospital in mid-January.
The toddler, from Mauchline, Scotland, underwent blood tests and a bone marrow sample – which found the cancerous cells.
Further tests revealed Ava had high-risk, stage four neuroblastoma – a rare cancer that mostly affects babies and young children, and develops from specialised nerve cells (neuroblasts) left behind from a baby’s development in the womb.
In Ava’s case, the disease had spread throughout her body.
‘We were utterly devastated – it wasn’t something we could have ever imagined,’ Natalie, a primary care nurse, said.
‘We researched neuroblastoma and the statistics made us feel worse, knowing that Ava had only a 40-50% chance of survival.
‘After all the horrific treatment she will have to endure, there is still a greater than 60% chance that it will return, which will reduce her chance of survival to 5%.’
The family are now fundraising £250,000 to send their daughter to New York for a new treatment to stop neuroblastoma from returning.
Before her diagnosis, Ava only ever experienced coughs and colds, and was seemingly healthy.
Ava immediately started chemotherapy and a trial treatment, as well as having daily injections to boost bone marrow production, and regular blood transfusions.
After three rounds of chemotherapy, she underwent a stem cell harvest, and is now on a higher dose of chemo until August.
Natalie said: ‘This will wipe out her full immune system and she will be very susceptible to infections which could become life threatening.
‘Ava will remain in an isolation room for six weeks in hospital until her body has recovered.’
Once she has recovered, the next step will be targeted radiotherapy, and then finally immunotherapy, which will last for six months.
Natalie said her daughter has taken it all ‘in her stride’.
‘She has made us very proud of how she is coping with everything.
‘She’s always had a smile on her face and is a little chatterbox – keeping all of the staff amused with her antics.
‘But she does miss being at home spending time with her brother, Lucas, five, and her nursery friends.’
Ava’s most recent scans have been positive, showing a reduction in the cancer cells, which has given the family hope.
There is, however, a high chance of relapsing in the future, so her family want to send her to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York for a new vaccination treatment, which aims to stop neuroblastoma from returning.
It is not currently available in the UK, but the family has raised £107,000 to date.
Symptoms of neuroblastoma
The symptoms of neuroblastoma vary depending on where the cancer is and whether it’s spread. The early symptoms can be vague and hard to spot, and can easily be mistaken for those of more common childhood conditions.
Symptoms can include:
- a swollen, painful tummy, sometimes with constipation and difficulty peeing
- breathlessness and difficulty swallowing
- a lump in the neck
- blueish lumps in the skin and bruising, particularly around the eyes
- weakness in the legs and an unsteady walk, with numbness in the lower body, constipation and difficulty peeing
- fatigue, loss of energy, pale skin, loss of appetite and weight loss
- bone pain, a limp and general irritability
- rarely, jerky eye and muscle movements
See a GP or contact NHS 111 if you’re worried your child might be seriously ill.
Source: NHS
Natalie said: ‘We are hopeful that we will reach our target – we are almost halfway after only two months and have had an amazing response from our local community.
‘We have spoken with various families who have been through or are currently going through the treatment from MSK in New York with great results so far, which gives us hope and confidence in the treatment.
‘Without this treatment, Ava is more likely to relapse reducing her chances of survival – this is something we are not willing to take a chance on.’
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