Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is a type of blood cancer. Around 400 children develop ALL in the UK each year.
On February 25, 2022, our beautiful daughter Matilda was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. From that moment, our world stopped spinning while the world around us just continued.
Within 30 hours of taking her to see the GP, she had already received a diagnosis of ALL and started chemotherapy and steroids. Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow. It usually begins slowly before quickly becoming severe as the number of underdeveloped white blood cells increases in the blood, leading to most of the symptoms. That's why they start treatment rapidly once they receive a diagnosis. We barely had time to process what was happening before they threw us into the world of cancer.
We had to learn quickly what ALL was and the treatment for it. We couldn't have done it without the fantastic staff at Leeds Children's Hospital and the fabulous resources on the CCLG webpage.
There are five different phases of treatment for ALL. We're currently in the fourth phase, called intensification. This phase has been the hardest yet for Matilda, and she has struggled with the side effects of the many different types of chemotherapies used in this phase. The aim is to kill as many of the leukaemia cells left as possible. Sometimes, I struggle to put into words how I feel as a parent of a child with cancer. Even writing that is still a struggle. I don't think it will ever get any easier. It's not something you prepare for or even expect in your wildest nightmares. But there's no other option; that's the reality my family and many others face daily.
The only way out of it is through it. I'd be lying if I said it was easy; it's one of the hardest things we've been through. I can't say how proud we are of our wonderful warrior Matilda. She has been battling this now for almost six months and has shown us strength and resilience like we've never seen. She demonstrates knowledge and understanding beyond her years. We openly share Matilda's journey because her strength and resilience amaze us daily, and we want to raise as much awareness as possible of ALL and charities like CCLG that have helped and supported us along the way.
September 2022
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