A mother is being credited for saving her daughter’s life after noticing bruises and Googling the symptoms.
Laura Handley first thought the bruises were due to her clumsiness handling her daughter, but eventually became convinced they were a sign that something was deeply wrong.
The mother from England found an article that said a teen had the same symptoms. That teen died.
Handley then Googled the symptoms, which also included night sweats and muscle and joint pain.
She found that her daughter, two-year-old Tazmin, may have myelodysplasia (pre-leukemia).
“The next morning I took her to the GP, and from there everything started to unravel. The original white blood cell count was 16, and she had 15 blasts of leukemia, and was diagnosed with myelodysplasia. But by July 19, it the white blood cell count had risen to 24, and she had 67 blasts. By then we knew it was full-blown leukemia, and were absolutely terrified.”
A doctor confirmed that Tazmin did have the rare form of cancer, a blood cancer.
The bruises were actually petechia or a sign of broken blood vessels.
An intense chemotherapy treatment was recommended and now Tazmin is in recovery.
“She just got on with it. I think she did realize the severity of it, and did have little lows, but she kept on smiling,” Handley said.
“When we found out she was in remission, it was just the best news. Since then she’s been in and out of hospital a few times, but she’s recovering amazingly well.”
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