Daisy’s story – Diagnosed with Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia aged one

Daisy Sayers was diagnosed with Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in November 2017 aged just 22 months. Mum Melissa explains.

When we got the news, it was the worst thing possible. Never in a million years do you think it’s going to happen to your own child. We live near Bradley Lowery’s parents so had seen what they’d been through. The thoughts that go through your head, it was just unimaginable. The initial thought was ‘Am I going to lose her?’.

Treatment begins

They told us that for leukaemia it’s five cycles of treatment. The first phase, they call the induction phase, where they gave Daisy a high blast of intense chemo. That started straight away and lasted for about six weeks – she’d have chemo at the hospital once a week, and she then had to take oral steroids and different oral chemos at home every day for nearly a month.

That started Daisy with mood swings, her face swelled, her appetite increased – she just wanted food constantly. That first phase was to put her in remission, then the rest would be to make sure it stayed that way.

Travel costs going up

It’s all the things you don’t think you have to pay for. Travel and car parking is one of the biggest expenses. We have two cars, so if I take Daisy to hospital, Chris will come in his car after work – so it’s the cost of both of us getting there. I wouldn’t even want to guess at how much it’s cost us – definitely hundreds. There’s all the unexpected journeys as well.

Before, I’d always run the car until the petrol light came on, but now I’ve got to make sure I’ve got enough to get her to hospital if she needs to go. It’s always in the back of your mind. We just can’t take that chance now – you need to be ready just on the off chance.

Everything massively adds up – and when you don’t have two full wages coming in, it’s a cost you don’t need.

Emotional impact

As a family, it’s put a massive strain on us – not just our immediate family, but everyone. It puts a strain on your marriage – you’re just constantly on edge, watching her 24-hours a day. Everything else takes a back seat.

Daisy’s sister Poppy gets quite emotional too, if we’re going to hospital, she gets very anxious about whether we’re coming home or if we’ll have to stay there. It’s getting easier, but it’s been an adjustment for Poppy.

The future

Daisy’s still on treatment now, she’s due to finish in April 2020 – so it’s a very long time. Daisy’s doing really well, she’s had a lot of blood transfusions recently and she’s just about to enter maintenance phase, which the hospital tells us is the ‘easiest’ one. But all in all, she’s coping fantastically.

Find out more

CLIC Sargent is the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people, and their families.

To find out more about how we support young cancer patients, please visit our what we do section. If you need support yourself please contact us.