A woman was left in shock after her two-year-old daughter's bacterial infection turned out to be aggressive cancer.
Doctors were baffled by the tot's symptoms and diagnosed an infection on two occasions. However, she was found to have acute myeloid leukaemia on her third birthday, January 27.
Morgan Berry, 22, from Rochdale, had taken her daughter Lillianna Loasby to their GP after she became unwell, who diagnosed her with a bacterial infection. Though they were sent home with antibiotics, doctors wanted to see Lillianna a few days later to check her heart rate.
Later that evening, Lillianna had a nosebleed, so the mum-of-one decided to take her to the hospital.
The pair were again told Lillianna had a bacterial infection and were sent on their way. But Morgan knew deep down something wasn’t right and took the tot to a separate hospital for a different opinion.
There, the worried mum was told her daughter may have a severe infection and medics began treating her for sepsis. The daughter was then placed into a coma to help her body fight the infection.
“They didn’t know where the infection was coming from,” Morgan told the Manchester Evening News. “They said she was a head-scratcher; they didn’t understand why she was so poorly.
“They told me she wasn’t well and I need to be strong. I was a mess by this point. I was crying thinking, ‘Oh my God, what’s going to happen?’.”
Lillianna was transferred to different hospitals as doctors tried to figure out what was making her ill. Tragically, it was on the oncology unit at Manchester Children’s Hospital where her devastated family learned she had acute myeloid leukaemia, an aggressive cancer of the monocyte or granulocyte cells.
The consultant told Morgan: “I’m just going to say one word. Leukaemia.”
“It was such a shock,” Morgan said. “We were heartbroken; we were all crying. It’s hard to describe the feeling – it was like my whole world stopped and I couldn’t really process it.
“We got the results back and were told we had to wait for consultants to come. We were waiting around and it was the longest 20 minutes of my life.
“I knew there was something wrong. I knew what she was like when she had a viral or bacterial infection and I knew it wasn’t normal. I have anxiety anyway so I started to question myself because I’d been told she had a bacterial infection twice, but deep down I knew there was something wrong with her.”
Lillianna was immediately transferred to the cancer ward and began a 10-day chemotherapy treatment on February 1. She is set to return to hospital in several weeks for an assessment where it’s hoped she will get the all-clear.
“She’s still fighting the infection and to this day we don’t know where it’s come from,” Morgan added. “She’s now got to rest for a couple of weeks so they can assess her and see whether it’s gone away.”
A GoFundMe appeal has been set up to help Morgan and Lillianna through this devastating time. So far, it has raised £1,556.
It reads: “I’m wanting to raise as much as possible to help ease some pressure and stress from Lillianna’s amazing mummy and make their stay somewhat easier.
“This is understandably a heartbreaking and tough time for Morgan and her family, any donation is more than appreciated.”
