A UK couple thought their son was just restless and clingy to his mother – then they were informed he might have only two weeks to live.
Archer Crawford-Speakman used to eat little for dinner and then say he was full and struggled to stay away from his mother.
+ Turmeric: Learn about the benefits of the food and points of attention when using supplements with this compound
+ 7 signs of negative energy in a person
+ Lego releases Yamaha MT-10 SP kit that shifts gears just like the real bike
He then began to feel more and more tired and overwhelmed, and later developed a water phobia.
His parents, Jade and Adam, were concerned, but believed his behavior was just that of a “typical child”.
However, in December 2021, a lump appeared on his stomach, keeping the two-year-old awake with pain all night.
Jade took him to the emergency room which couldn’t determine what it was, and then consulted a specialist where doctors suspected he might have a kidney issue.
A series of tests revealed he indeed had a high-risk neuroblastoma – a rare cancer that develops from immature nerve cells – which could be fatal.
Archer began chemotherapy and later had the tumor removed, as well as one of his kidneys and had a feeding tube installed.
He suffered “all the side effects”, including blood vomiting, severe mucositis, and breathing difficulty, so he was bedridden.
“It was the worst time of our lives,” Jade told the NGO Children With Cancer.
Archer spent almost all of 2022 in the hospital, before finally being discharged on December 22nd last year.
Despite his initially bleak outlook, the boy is now happily at home waiting for his end-of-treatment tests to find out if he is cancer-free.
The family hopes that by sharing their story, it can inform others about childhood cancer symptoms and highlight the importance of new research to help beat the disease.
Around 1,800 new cancer cases are diagnosed in children every year in the UK, with 250 deaths, according to Cancer Research UK.
The neuroblastoma is classified as an embryonal tumor – a type of cancer that develops from cells left behind from a baby’s development in the womb.
It’s a rare cancer affecting around 100 children every year, most of whom are under five years old.
It usually starts in the abdominal area, and the most common symptoms include:
– Abdominal swelling
– Constipation
– Numbness
– Weakness
– Loss of motion in the lower body
– Shortness of breath
– Difficulty swallowing
In about half the children, neuroblastoma has spread to another part of the body by the time they are diagnosed.
– Fatigue
– Fever
– Loss of appetite
Treatment can involve surgery, chemotherapy, stem cell transplant, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy.
Source: nottinghampost
