The story begins in March 2020, in the United Kingdom. Little Elisabeth, 6, wakes up in the middle of the night, screaming in pain: she explains to her parents that her hip has excruciatingly painful. Panicked, his parents immediately took him to Queen’s Medical Center in Nottingham. Doctors perform an emergency scan … but the examination shows nothing.
Experts estimate that Elisabeth is probably suffering from a hip cold – a mild infection that is fairly common between the ages of 3 and 10, which usually goes away without treatment. Emma, Elisabeth’s mother, fears premature arthritis because she herself suffers from this inflammatory rheumatism.
Six weeks later, the little girl wakes up again in tears: this time, her left leg has a terrible pain. Back to the ER, where the exams are still silent – this time, the doctors are betting on growing pains.
“An emergency doctor ended up telling me (…) that she was manipulating us”
And so on. The little girl is taken to the ER 8 times, complaining of excruciating pain; each time, the doctors find no explanation for this suffering. Result: health professionals believe that Elisabeth is simulating her symptoms … “An emergency doctor finally told me that it was a matter of education, that she was manipulating us because we were giving her treats after going to the hospital.“remembers his mother, questioned by the newspaper Mercury Press & Media.
But in June 2020, a tumor appears on the child’s cheek – the doctors then think of a dental problem and refer Elizabeth’s parents to a dentist. Until a nurse recommends an MRI examination to the little girl: the doctors then discover a bone abnormality, 5 centimeters below the knee, but also tumors in the face, skull and jaw …
A rare cancer that affects children and adolescents
After a biopsy, the diagnosis is made: Elisabeth suffers from B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoblastic lymphoma. This rare cancer develops from abnormal immune cells – B lymphocytes. The causes of this disease are often unknown: it may be a question of a viral infection (au hepatitis C virus or Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), for example), exposure to pollutants (pesticides, etc.) or even genetic factors. This cancer mostly affects children and adolescents.
Elisabeth was diagnosed on October 6, 2020 … 7 months after the first pain. “She immediately went to the hospital to start chemotherapy. (…) JI want to call on parents to follow their instincts because they are the ones who know their child best. I was angry that I had fought for seven months without anyone taking me seriously. You have to keep fighting ” advises Emma, the mother of the little girl.
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