Liam's Story

Liam was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia on the 27 December 2003 aged 3 and a half. Liam had contracted chicken pox the weeks before Christmas and became very unwell very quickly.

He was too poorly to enjoy Christmas that year and spent most of the time asleep. If only we had known what we were about to find out. On Boxing Day he had a huge red mark appear on his head, which appeared to look like a bruise.

After taking him to the local out of hours GP service that day he was admitted to the Northampton General Hospital where he was given fluids.
 

We shall always remember vividly on the evening of Saturday 27th December when the doctor came to see us and to tell us that they suspected he had Leukaemia.

The news was devastating; to be told that your child has cancer, it was news that was to turn our world upside down our emotions went into overdrive and we stepped into a new world of the unknown.

By the next day a bed at Birmingham Children’s Hospital was found for Liam in an isolation room due to the Chicken Pox. This was where he would spend the next week. We saw many doctors during our week at Birmingham with lots of tests and lots of needles Bloods and platelets were given to help boost him up.

It was all new and very scary for him nd something he did not enjoy. Liam went back home 1 week to the day after first being admitted to Northampton General Hospital (NGH).

Just after a month we were told Liam was in remission but his treatment would be just over 3 years (164 weeks). We spent the next 3 months or so making weekly trips to Birmingham where he would have half his treatment. The rest of the treatment was done at NGH. In the March time he had his Hickman line put in. This was to make life easier for Liam and his treatment but was something he did not enjoy having.
 

The Hickman line was only to last 8 months. The line fell out but we had already requested for it to be removed. It was restricting is life too much.

To cut a very long 3 year story short, he caught Chicken Pox again in the summer of 2004; Liam then had a stint of not being admitted to hospital with an illness for 10 months which was good.

Since June this year he has had three hospital stays one of which was when he caught shingles. (He obviously likes the Chicken Pox’s Virus).

As well as all of this Liam has had to cope with starting school (he is now in year 2) and despite all his treatment and hospital stays he has hardly missed any school.