Sophia was diagnosed with
infantile
acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in June 2017. Sophia’s mum, Gemma tells their story so far:
Leukaemia diagnosis
In June 2017, my daughter Sophia was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) at the age of just two. Sophia was immediately admitted to John Radcliffe Hospital where she received urgent blood and platelet transfusions. Unfortunately, we quickly learnt that where the leukaemia was so compact in her spine it had caused a compression fracture from T8-T11 of her back which meant Sophia remained unable to walk for many months. During these initial weeks Sophia and I stayed in hospital and eventually felt like residents!
Intensive treatment
Over the next few months Sophia went successfully through each phase of treatment and continued to do very well. We became frequent visitors to our local hospital with a number of admissions due to infections and chemotherapy-induced fevers. All of these she dealt with without complaint although it was clear that this was taking a toll on our once confident little girl.
Fierce fighter
Sophia is in remission and will continue with treatment until September 2019. The treatment protocol is daily and every three months she will have a lumbar puncture with chemotherapy given directly into her spine. We are so proud of her and we know she will continue to amaze us all – she is certainly a fierce fighter!